Pseudo by Dorothy Speak
In this stunning and keenly anticipated collection of stories, Dorothy Speak explores family, loss, betrayal, conflict and entrapment in narratives shining with humour, mystery and anguish. Speak has published four other highly acclaimed works, written in the same luminous prose: a novel called The Wife Tree, and three short story collections entitled The Counsel of the Moon, Object of Your Love, and Reconciliation. Following in the footsteps of Alice Munro, she is one of this country’s few remaining career practitioners of the short story, a proud Canadian genre.
Pseudo
“Speak’s stories champion aging underdogs, many addled by disease or discontent, and throughout their grief or despair she demonstrates an acute sensitivity to their plights. Into tales that could become overly sentimental, she injects redemption and sacrifice. The author creates stories that will enchant with the beautiful, diverse, and ever-evolving essence of human nature. An impressive and luminous assemblage of artful and quietly devastating tales.” Kirkus
“…a well-tuned poet’s ear and an artisan’s approach to language. Her phrasing and descriptive passages are lucid, innovative and delicately structured.” Globe and Mail
“Speak has the remarkable ability to create mature characters with whom we can readily empathize, and to translate the unspoken into language honestly, wisely and with insightful wit.” Calgary Herald
“…an immensely readable volume, one for which the phrase Plaisir du texte, seems coined.” Books in Canada
“Speak very quickly draws the reader in, not simply because of her narrative skill, her unfailing instinct for the right word and the right image, but because she has a marvelous ability to create characters the reader actually cares about. This is not such a common ability as one might think.” Toronto Star