Author explores gay themes
Fact and fiction: Protagonist in Macdonald’s novel has life story similar to her own
Acclaimed Canadian author Ann-Marie MacDonald, who wrote Fall on Your Knees and The Way the Crow Flies, has written a remarkable new novel about motherhood, families and the deep, dark mystery of memory.
This is one of those novels that will have readers wondering where the line is drawn between fact and fiction.
MacDonald is the author of two bestselling novels who lives with her partner, Alisa Palmer, and two children in Toronto.
Adult Onset lead character Mary-Rose MacKinnon allows readers inside her mind, into her life as the author of two young adult novels who lives in Toronto with her partner, Hilary, their two children and their dog.
MacDonald was born in West Germany and spent the first few years of her life on a Canadian Air Force base near Baden-Baden. Her father was an officer in the RCAF and the family was posted numerous times. In the novel, MacKinnon was also born in West Germany, living on a Canadian Air Force base.
The family moves several times as she grows up.
In a way, it reminds me of Miriam Toews’ latest bestselling novel about her sister’s suicidal tendencies.
Although it’s a novel, it is clearly based on real- life events, given that Toews’ sister and father both killed themselves. At one point in the book a character says, “Fiction is not the opposite of truth,” and we will have to leave it at that.
Both novels are particularly Canadian in such a wonderful and familiar way, and Adult Onset should also be destined for the bestseller lists.
MacDonald is a very popular Canadian author and readers have been waiting since 2003 for a new novel from her.
Adult Onset will not disappoint, holding within its pages themes including the stress of parenting in the 21st century with all of its neuroses and paranoias, not to mention gay parenting; coming out as a lesbian and being rejected by your parents; repressed memory and its unreliable nature; childhood illness and its long-term scars; and more.
I’ve not mentioned racism, postpartum depression, domestic abuse, stillborn babies, reproductive technology, mental illness or sibling rivalry, but they’re all here in varying degrees of prominence.
This book is not a slow, spare read. It is jam-packed with a stream-of-consciousness look at modern family life through the point of view of a 40-something, whip-smart-but-damaged lesbian mom who is doing her best to wrestle her demons and put them to rest permanently.
The story opens when she gets an email from her dad, who has just opened his first email account and wants to tell her that he’s seen the video It Gets Better, which is an online video project aimed at supporting LGBTQ youth and letting them know that “it gets better” when they’re a bit older.
She doesn’t know how to respond to the email and it stirs up a lot of deep, dark emotions for her as she remembers her parents’ reaction when she told them she was gay, which was devastating and cruel. They’ve since accepted her and her partner, but the rejection still hurts.
From there, the novel accompanies MacKinnon through a week’s worth of mental anguish, parenting chaos, phantom physical pain and other events.
It’s a thought-provoking and thoroughly enjoyable read.
As well as her two previous novels, MacDonald has created theatrical works including the collective creation This is For You, Anna, and the multi- episodic Nancy Drew: Clue in the Fast Lane. Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) was MacDonald’s first solo-authored work.
She also works as an actor in theatre, films and television including I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing, Where the Spirit Lives and Better Than Chocolate.
She has won several awards, including the Governor General’s Award, the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, the Canadian Authors’ Association Award, the Dartmouth Award, the Gemini Award, the Chalmers Award and the Dora Mavor Moore Award.
Like MacDonald’s first two novels, Adult Onset is an exceptional book. It deserves all the attention I’m certain it will get.