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Simple Recipes
- Narrated by: Madeleine Thien
- Length: 5 hrs and 45 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Anthologies & Short Stories
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Publisher's Summary
Winner of the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and the City of Vancouver Book Award, and a Regional Finalist for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book
Longing, familiarity, and hope suffuse these stories as they mine the charged territory of relationships - subtly weaving in conflicts between generations and cultures. Madeleine Thien's characters in some way want to make amends, to understand the events that have shaped their lives. A young woman searches back in time for the pivotal moment when her family lost faith in itself. Two sisters keep a vigil outside their former house, hoping their long-absent mother will appear one last time. A wife helps her husband grieve for the woman he has loved since childhood. A daughter remembers the simple ritual she once shared with her father and the moment when her unconditional love for him was called into question.
Compassionate and revealing, delicate and wise, these stories chart the uneven progress of love and lay bare the heartbreaking truths at the core of our closest bonds.
What the critics say
"This is surely the debut of a splendid writer. I am astonished by the clarity and ease of the writing, and a kind of emotional purity." (Alice Munro)
"Thien shows a rare, measured and perceptive understanding...." (National Post)
"[A] graceful debut collection.... Powerful.... The simplicity of Thien's narration belies the complexity of her themes. She is a writer to watch." (Publishers Weekly)
"Dazzling...." (Vogue)