All My Puny Sorrows

I was blown away by this book when I first read it, and it may be one of the best books I’ve ever read.

I laughed out loud at the wisecracking wit while tears actually dropped into my lap at the aching sadness as I read of the struggles of Yolande to stop her famous pianist sister Elfride from committing suicide and as she mines their strict Memonite past (including their father’s own suicide) for reasons for Elfride’s depression.

I kept gulping out hilarious bits to my partner while wiping my eyes and blowing my nose. I found it hard… show more.

The central conflict at the heart of this book is that one sister, Elf, wants to die, and the other, Yoli, wants her to live. This makes them, as Yoli puts it, “enemies who loved each other.”

A book about suicidal depression doesn’t seem like it would be funny, but this one is. Heartbreaking, hilarious, and perfect in every way. An annual re-read for me.

One of the most complicated and hilarious novels about the difficulties of having a sibling, Miriam Toews's story of two sisters who grew up in a Mennonite community in Canada and are now struggling with adult life feels incredibly urgent and intimate, like a conversation between the reader and the narrator. Elf and Yoli are sisters and both are struggling with Yoli’s compulsion to end her own life. With wickedly-funny insights, Elf struggles to keep her family from falling apart in this grippingly-honest retelling of events from Toews’ own life. This book gave me the permission to draw from some… show more.