Miriam Toews's novels (Women Talking; All My Puny Sorrows) are filled with clever, darkly humorous women on the run, fighting and persevering. In her eighth, Fight Night, precocious nine-year-old Swiv narrates the story of Grandma, Mom and her, revealed in letters never meant to be mailed.
Toews's characters, who span three generations and whose characteristics will be familiar to her fans, exude hope and ferocious determination; they navigate quirky plot twists and hilarious dialogue. Tenacious, spirited Grandma, who survived a stifling religious upbringing, "has one foot in the grave" but retains her boisterous sense of humor. Mom is in the last trimester of what Grandma calls a "geriatric pregnancy," causing her to go "scorched earth" emotionally. Swiv, conveniently suspended from school ("Madame said I had one too many fights"), looks after Grandma, who loosely home-schools her in their tiny Toronto apartment.
Swiv's dad is missing; his whereabouts, "the sixty-four-thousand dollar question," Grandma says. For a letter-writing project, Swiv is telling their story to Dad, while Mom and Grandma write to the baby. "You're a small thing and you must learn to fight," Grandma advises.
With Swiv's frequent italicizations and conversations without quotation marks, Fight Night is absurdly funny. Yet Toews's endearing women fiercely defy adversity as a team, one readers will cheer right through to the poignant, loving ending. --Cheryl McKeon, Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, N.Y.