Liberty Street

August 15, 2016
Warren's fifth novel (after Juliet in August) tells a story about a woman's journey through life in small-town Saskatchewan and, more broadly, about the strength of second chances, which bring the ability to recognize one's own mistakes and ways for people to begin to repair themselves, even many years after they were broken. Frances Mary Moon's young life was full of bizarre tragedies that affected her more than she knew, and everything boils up inside her again when she and her partner, Ian, get trapped in traffic due to the funeral of a young girl and her infant. She blurts out her secrets: that she lost a baby during premature birth when she was 19, and that she had been married and probably still is. The long chapters jump between Frances's formative years and her present-day adult life as she decides to return to her hometown and see for herself what ghosts reside there. The depiction of Frances as a child is just exquisite; to see through her eyes is a perfect recreation of a child's inner workings. With a strong narrative voice in both sections, the novel creates an intimate portrayal of the road to resolution and recovery for a soul adrift. Frances as a child has a confused but determined voice. As an adult, she sets to thinking through what exactly she is looking to recover by digging into the past. Warren's novel is a thoughtful, intricate tale that builds quietly but strikes hard and fast. Agent: Dean Cooke, Cooke Agency.

June 15, 2016
A woman finally confronts the past she has blotted out for more than 20 years in Warren's follow-up to her Governor General's Award-winning debut (Juliet in August, 2012).On holiday in Ireland, Frances Moon blurts out to her longtime partner, Ian, that she had a stillborn child when she was 19 and, by the way, never divorced the husband who wasn't the father of her baby. Back in Toronto, Frances quits her job and heads for Elliot, the small town in western Canada where she grew up. She is devastated Ian might not be waiting when she gets back, but she has done nothing to counter his accusation that "you are a person who resists happiness." We begin to discern the reasons for this in Chapter 2, which rolls back to the early 1960s to show 5-year-old Frances wondering if her restless, dissatisfied mother has taken off for good while her father weeps at night. Mom does return, making it her mission to ensure that her daughter goes to university and escapes her fate as a farmer's wife. As Warren traces Frances' loss-haunted childhood and adolescence--three significant adults in her life die unexpectedly--the present-tense narration underscores that none of these issues have been resolved. It's painful to watch Frances sabotaging herself: refusing to apply for a scholarship; marrying a much-older man simply because it gives her aimless life some direction; then abruptly changing course when the magnitude of her mistake dawns on her. Warren's reluctance to delve into her characters' motivations gives the novel a rather distanced feel for quite a while, though it's highly readable throughout. Then, just as young-adult Frances "step[s] from the ruins of a life that didn't happen," the startling interpolation of the town scapegrace's back story points us in the direction of a tentative emotional reckoning for Frances as well. The understated yet touching closing pages suggest Frances has achieved some degree of contentment.Fine, sensitive fiction, though the author's rigorously restrained approach won't be to everyone's taste.

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March 1, 2016

In this new work from Canadian author Warren, whose many honors include the Governor General's Award (for Juliet in August), Frances Moon begins acknowledging long-suppressed memories, starting with the baby she lost at age 19. Then she moves on to a violent hit-and-run that took her friend Silas, a decorated World War II veteran and Native Canadian. Look for the galley at ALA.

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