Y by Marjorie Celona

Y

Marjorie Celona

This is a story about family, and who did what, and why. Through it we meet many flawed characters but most important is Shannon, a young girl abandoned at birth, who understandably needs, desperately, to know more about herself and her history. Set on Vancouver Island the book is funny, unsettling, emotional and written in such a wonderfully warm, engaging way that I felt bereft as I reached the end knowing I was saying goodbye to Shannon.|

Extract
I want to hate them. I do. It would be easier. I want to hate them so much that the earth will open up and they’ll sink down into its fiery centre. I want to hate them so much that they’ll die. But they’re not bad people and never have been. How do you become a part of someone else’s family? You don’t, and you never do.
Parallels
  • Leaning, Leaning Over Water by Frances Itani
  • The Birth House by Ami McKay