This book was the Scotiabank Giller Prize-finalist. And no wonder. It is a gripping exploration of class, race, friendship, and sexuality. The story also explores what it means to be a good person in a world that is less so. It is a riveting, untold Canadian true crime story like no other that I have ever read.
Padma Viswanathan was staying on a houseboat on Vancouver Island when she developed a friendship with a warm-hearted, working-class queer man named Phillip. Their lives were so different that is seemed highly likely that they could ever be friends and even if they did, the friendship wouldn't last.
But one particular week, Phillip told her a story from his childhood that kept them connected for more than twenty years. It was one of these interesting and authentic relationships that other people couldn't get their head around.
Phillip was the son of a severe, abusive man named Harvey. He was a miner, farmer, and communist. After Phillip's mother left the family, Harvey advertised for a housekeeper-with-benefits. And that was how Del, the most glamorous and loving of stepmothers, stepped into Phillips life.
Del had hung out with Fidel Castro and Che Guevara in Mexico City before the Cuban Revolution. She was also a convicted bank robber who had violated her parole and was suspecdted in her ex-husband's murder. Phillip had long since lost trace of Del, but when Padma said she'd like to write about her and about his own young life, he eagerly agreed.
Quickly Padma's research uncovered hidden truths about these larger-than-life characters that put her friendship and collaboration with Phillip to the test.
In this unforgettable memoir, Padma reflects on the joys and frictions of this strange journey with grace, humor, and poetry, including original readings of Hans Christian Andersen fairytales and other stories that echo her characters' adventures and her own life.
This story is just that rare—it's an irresistible literary page-turner that twists and turns, delivering powerful revelations, right to the end.
An unforgettable book by a master storyteller. It's a wonderful read and it's a book that I will be re-reading over the years.
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