Cricket in a Fist

9780864924957

Naomi K. Lewis (Author) $19.95 Paperback Published February 22, 2008 - In Stock Goose Lane Editions

One night, Agatha Winter's phone rings. Jasmine, her 13-year-old sister, has run away from home and needs to be picked up at the bus terminal. It's the anniversary of their mother's accident and subsequent split from the family. Jasmine is determined to exact revenge. Their mother, now a flashy self-help guru under a new moniker, preaches "willing amnesia": liberation by deliberately forgetting and disowning the past.

But "willing amnesia" is no innovation: it runs in the family. The girls' grandmother and great-grandmother, both Holocaust survivors, have found their own superficially innocuous yet fiercely destructive ways to fend off memory. In separate struggles, the girls work to break free from the burden of their family's silence.

Told in three major and two minor voices, Cricket in a Fist offers sophisticated psychological insight. Naomi Lewis's rich command of language transports us into a world of richly imagined characters.

Accolades

"The emotional and psychological action in the novel is so rich and intricate that the reader is carried along through the decades of story without so much as a hiccup. This is a wonderfully well-rounded story with true-to-life characters, emotions, and situations, making it an impressive first effort by an obviously talented writer." - Quill & Quire starred review.

"Moving . . . genuine." - Globe and Mail