The Hero's Walk

[SPOILER ALERT - you have been warned! Seriously. No, really, if you haven't read the book yet, don't even read the first sentence below.]

I know it well sound like a terrible thing to say, since we are not supposed to wish harm upon others, but it was so satisfying when the evil old woman dies at the end! Especially when she is on her deathbed and the reader is sure that she will understand how precious life and happiness are, for once, that she will give her blessing for her daughter's marriage and maybe even apologize for how terrible she had been. Instead, the classic "I just want you to know that when I die, it is all your fault". The ending of this book was as satisfying as the end of the movie Seven. (No spoiler alert for a twenty-year-old movie.)

The book had such memorable characters. The horrible mother in law, the weird guy who loved to expose himself, the crazy old woman who waited for her daughter to come home... they all became very real.

The turtle scene at the end was great. I agree that it was overdone. Maybe the author thought that really, really slow people may end up reading it. By the second page of the turtle scene, I was half expecting the author to blatantly refer to the beach as Canada and the ocean as India, and a turtle as the daughter who would not ever meet her mother again. But I am glad that the author stretched the scene out. It could have been done in three sentences, but we would be left with a nice, short thought instead of this tender, memorable moment. The whole book was leading up to this moment, so you might as well linger.

I was just about to go check what this year's theme for Canada Reads is. Starting over? What an absolutely perfect choice of book!

I never would have read this book, or even gotten through the first chapter, had it not been for Canada Reads. Am I ever glad that I gave something new a try. It almost seems that having an open mind and giving new things a chance is something that I should start doing more often. Almost.