Irma Voth (Toews) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
[F]or all its slow-burn funniness and faith in the redeeming power of art, the novel is built on an awareness that Irma can never fully escape her family's history of pain, suffering and loss…[Toews] writes with an instinctive grasp of the adolescent point of view, in which concepts like personal freedom and self-determination have the highest emotional charge and adults are powerful but slightly irrelevant beings.
Melissa Russo - New York Times Book Review


Miriam Toews has a remarkably light touch. She combines a playfully sardonic humour with crushing pathos.
Times Literary Supplement (UK)


In this compelling and beautiful novel, Toews’s quirky and authentic voice shows increasing range and maturity. She is well on her way to fulfilling her promise as an important and serious writer.
Montreal Gazette


A strong and skillful novel…a parable of redemption, a powerful theme…that leaves the reader with a comforting glow of hope.
Annie Proulx - Financial Times


A witty and thoughtful coming-of-age story…a novel about parenthood and sisterhood, and about redefining those relationships as people grow…it succeeds tremendously.
Washington Independent Review of Books


Toews…combines an intimate coming-of-age tale with picaresque and extremely effective prose.
Publishers Weekly


A literary novel marked by charm, wit and an original approach to language.
Kirkus Reviews