I'll read more by this thoughtful, sensitive author without a doubt—I like how she sees the world, and our clumsy, imperfect grace as we try to find our way. She worked as an actor and director before going to England, where she began to write fiction. In a moment of self-absorption, Clara Purdy's life takes a sharp left turn when she crashes into a beat-up car carrying an itinerant family of six. ). Not a book I would recommend unless you want to cross an award-winner off your to read list. . Found this quite compelling in a gentle way. Marina Endicott looks at life and death through the compassionate, humane lens of a born novelist: being good, being at fault… Learning that the family was more or less reduced to living in the car she has just wrecked, she impulsively does the Christian thing and takes them into her immaculate, childless home. It was shortlisted for the 2008 Giller Prize in Canada, and won the 2009 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Canada and the Caribbean. Essential reading. When Lorraine is in the ER, what was initially thought to be bruises, turns out to be something much more serious. Fear that what we love will be taken from us. It is really the best time for such a project for CBC TV producers, or CTV at least. More impressively, at least to me, she shows how even stressful moments--your kid pees his pants, you get in a fight with your boss, the cake you spent hours making falls face-down on the floor--are beautiful in their own way. This is a novel about what I will call, wanting a better phrase, the extraordinary ordinary, about the lengths to which people go and the barriers that prevent them from going further. "Also nominated for the 2008 Giller Prize, this novel is a searching, hard-edged exploration of social relationships in a prairie city. Yet it’s this question of liability and damages – automotive, spiritual, and otherwise – that drives Marina Endicott’s warm and witty second novel. The characters were kind of boring after the middle of the book and it was painful to try and get through. The Gage family had been travelling to a new life in Fort McMurray, but bruises on the mother, Lorraine, prove to be late-stage cancer rather than remnants of the accident. I bought it then, but didn’t read it until after it was chosen for the 2009 Canada Reads. In a moment of self-absorption, Clara Purdy's life takes a sharp left turn when she crashes into a beat-up car carrying an itinerant family of six. What ensues is a pleasingly spiky exploration of the limits of forgiveness and tolerance. I really identified with the self-contained spinster who steps up to help the family (except, of course, I could never, ever be so compassionate. A Debut Novelist's 2020 Reading that Mirrors Our Timeline. This locution, which is always applied to a quality that is inherently good but may not be so in excess—for example, “generous to a fault”—dates from the nineteenth century. Good To A Fault probably won't inspire spontaneous outbursts of "goodness". Endicott does a good job of exploring this question from all the different vantage points and gives us a good cross-section of Canadian characters. I was in intrigued by the premise: a woman feels guilty for crashing into a down-and-out family and maybe gets more than she bargains for. I was absorbed right from the start and couldn't put it down (often reading until 3 a.m.!) I don't think I've heard of a book that touches on this particular concept, at least not in contemporary literature. Marina Endicott. Many outcomes are also possible: the patient can die, the patient can survive, the marriage may crumble, new romances may flourish, wisdom may arrive, and everyone is changed - tools for the writer's arsenal of possible endings, and Endicott skillfully uses them all. even though it … But it takes the risk of placing two virtuous characters at its heart, and taking goodness and its complications as its theme. And I don't like babies.) This novel was published in 2009. Good to a Fault. In the end, the novel expertly reveals the complicated nature of all people, and the way a community can be created out of disparate parts. All that in one "simple" book...and there's even a bit of romance. Lorraine's husband, Clayton is driving and her mother-in-law and three kids are also in the car with her. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published Fear of dying, even fear of God, or of no God. Recognizing their need as her responsibility, Clara tr. In the vein of the novels of Carol Shields and Ann Patchett, Good to a Fault is a “witty, wise. What is the effect of telling the story from a range of perspectives rather than from a single point of view? . Good to A Fault (Book) : Endicott, Marina : In a moment of self-absorption, Clara Purdy's life takes a sharp left turn when she crashes into a beat-up car carrying an itinerant family of six. An accident is the catalyst for some pretty life-changing experiences for Clara and Lorraine. Good to a Fault In Marina Endicott's novel, a woman's uneventful life is turned upside-down when she takes in a family whose car she collided with. It's about a small-town Saskatchewan woman who causes an accident with a down-on-their-luck family of 5 and winds up taking in the couple's three children when the Mother is suddenly hospitalized with cancer. Endicott cleverly sets up what appears on the surface to be a clear cut act of goodness: a woman takes into her home a destitute family whose car she hit in an accident. They all live together, in the car. I liked it very much: it reminded me a little of Ann Tyler, with a dramatic story told in a quiet way. "The cancer card trumps everything," protagonist Clara Purdy ruminates, and that sums up the premise of this novel. It's something I feel strongly in life, and have rarely s. A quiet, lovely, empathetic novel about a middle-aged, unmarried woman who takes in three children. You understand how they all feel in an exceedingly complicated situation, and all are well drawn. 3. Pardon my own redundancy, but the novel's plot really is original; it’s a fresh take on a topic bordering on overdone. Marina Endicott looks at life and death through the compassionate, humane lens of a born novelist: being good, being at fault… It just came a bit more quickly and abruptly than I was expecting which left me feeling a bit disappointed...I was probably just sad to have left the characters behind! Clara Purdy's mother has died, and her 45-year-old daughter is confronting how bleak her life is, when a traffic accident and a young mother's serious cancer combine to land her with three young children, their aged grandmother and an aggressively unhinged husband. Endicott captures the pleasure of everyday life: shopping for a party, eating outside, standing on a beautiful rug. I think this book would make a great tv series. [emphasis] Jefferson was generous to a fault. An accident is the catalyst for some pretty life-changing experiences for Clara and Lorraine. I found the story slow moving and predicatable. The characters and dialogue feel authentic; I recognize myself (or someone I know and love) in each main character—even the less likeable ones—and appreciate how their respective stories, contradictions, flaws, struggles and perspectives are relevant and loosely bound to the rest. Add to Goodreads Look Inside. The Little Shadows, her latest book, longlisted for the 2011 Giller Prize, was a finalist for this year’s Governor General’s Award and will be published in the UK and Australia in spring 2012. It is a love story in the particular sense – involving a married priest with domestic and spiritual challenges of his own – and in the general one, involving the bruising extension of Clara's heart to include the children that she guiltily yearns to adopt, and their resolutely unlovable grandmother. Vicars and their congregants routinely appear in either comic or sinister guise. Forty something Clara Purdy's uneventful and unfulfilling life is thrown into disarray in the wake of a car accident, but not in the way we expect. The mother-in-law was the most interesting character - even if she was obnoxious. Clara, alone in her car, is shaken up but not hurt, and neither are the six members of the Gage family, who occupy the other car. Recommended by eb (thanks!) Throw this dreadful desease into the midst of any family unit (functional or dysfunctional) and everyone is afflicted, conflicted, guilt-ridden and exposed, not just the patient. In fact, reading this book inspired me to read one of the Dicken's Christmast stories next (The Haunted Man), A quiet, lovely, empathetic novel about a middle-aged, unmarried woman who takes in three children. It was shortlisted for the 2008 Giller Prize in Canada, and won the 2009 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Canada and the Caribbean. This book was surprisingly good. Throw this dreadful desease into the midst of any family unit (functional or dysfunctional) and everyone is afflicted, conflicted, guilt-ridden and exposed, not just the patient. I liked it very much: it reminded me a little of Ann Tyler, with a dramatic story told in a quiet way. Marina Endicott's novel Good to a Fault is one of those rare pieces of fiction that makes compelling drama out of the stuff of everyday life while avoiding sentimentality and remaining true to its author's literary ambitions. I really identified with the self-contained spinster who steps up to help the family (except, of course, I could never, ever be so compassionate. The only reason it didn't get 5 stars was because the ending was a bit too abrupt. {{#verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}}, Booking.com promo: Extra 10% off holidays with Level 1 Genius membership, Debenhams discount code for 15% off selected luxury beauty products, Exclusive Ideal World promo code: 20% saving on fitness, Receive a £2 AliExpress promo code with the official App, Argos promo: 20% off selected LEGO toys this Easter. The Canadian writer Marina Endicott's second novel, Good to a Fault, won a Commonwealth Writers' Prize, and one can see why. It's just as funny and absorbing as her debut, Open Arms. Endicott does a good job of exploring this question from all the different vantage points and gives us a go, This book was surprisingly good. It was shortlisted for the 2008 Giller Prize in Canada, and won the 2009 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Canada and the Caribbean. The back of the books asks "when is sacrifice merely selfishness?" Characters are well-drawn and believable but never predictable. 5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful. It kept me engrossed the whole way through. The only reason it didn't get 5 stars was because the ending was a bit too abrupt. Her second, Good to a Fault, was a finalist for the 2008 Giller Prize and won the 2009 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, Canada/Caribbean region. Clara has no choice but to rouse herself from her middle-age stupor and forge emotional connections when Lorraine's recovery takes the better part of a year and she is the sole provider for three children. Clara, alone in her car, is shaken up but not hurt, and neither are the six members of the Gage family, who occupy the other c. Marina Endicott's novel Good to a Fault is one of those rare pieces of fiction that makes compelling drama out of the stuff of everyday life while avoiding sentimentality and remaining true to its author's literary ambitions. Customer reviews. At first blush, it sounds like a bad joke. But she must question her own motives. . Start by marking “Good to a Fault” as Want to Read: Error rating book. Throughout my life I have been surrounded by good people, people who are inherently good and those who choose to do good, who consistently and selflessly choose to help others more vulnerable, more in need than themselves. More than once in Marina Endicott’s new novel, “Good to a Fault,” you might wonder if you’ve wandered into the world of Barbara Pym and her “excellent women.”. This is a novel about what I will call, wanting a better phrase, the extraordinary ordinary, about the lengths to which people go and the barriers that prevent them from going further. “Everybody was dying, or already dead, or leaving other people, and the year was dying into winter, and the only thing to do was make some noise.”, “Fear is always with us: that we are not good enough or strong enough, and so will fail; that we will be hurt. Sounds depressing...and the themes of loneliness, longing for human connection, mortality, illness and the cleavages between us that are often defi. It is a book for adults, full of the complexities of the intersections of life, love, religion, ethics, etc. And I don't like babies.) This might affect the person who is being nice in a bad way. Good to a Fault is one of several of the Canada reads 2010 books that I plan to read this year. When can a producer should be prompted to create this production? Profoundly human is certainly the phrase to describe this novel, which is probably why it is so uncomfortable to read. Fault: weakness or failing. Well done!” — Margaret Atwood “Unpretentious and affecting, with characters to remember and themes that linger and resound.” — Meg Wolitze The main premise is really interesting and very well explored. Virtue doesn't sell. I forced myself to finish it just to confirm what I already predicted would happen. Four very solid stars. But the writing is superb, and the characters so well-drawn that I did not want the novel to end. Marina Endicott's Commonwealth Writer’s Prize-winning second novel, Good to a Fault, is perhaps just that -- a little too "good" for its own good. Ending was a mesmerizing, subtle, and that sums up the premise of this book more... Funny and absorbing as her responsibility, Clara Purdy drove to the bank one hot Friday in July risk! 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