MICHELLE BERRY
THE BOOKS...
Interference
ISBN 978-1-77041-198-2
From fall to spring, the inhabitants of Edgewood Drive in the small town of Parkville prove that the simplest lives can be intricate and complicated. The interwoven, layered narrative of Michelle Berry's Interference moves between Senior Ladies Leisure League hockey, the unsure and awkward life of pre-teens and teens, suspected pedophilia, disfigurement, and cancer. In Interference, there is always someone watching, biding their time -- and as this suspense builds, the vivaciousness of a congenial neighbourhood, full of life and happiness as well as fear and sorrow, becomes at once more humorous, frightening, and real.
I Still Don't Even Know You
ISBN 978-0-88801-368-2
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No matter how intimate you are with your closest friend or lover, no matter how well you think you know your sister, brother, mother or father, no matter how long you have lived next to your neighbour, you will never truly know them. This is the wisdom award-winning writer Michelle Berry dispenses with eyes-wide experience and uncanny perception in her new collection of stories. Each story is a vivid snapshot of the lives of people at a crossroads. With control, wit and brilliance, Berry explores the hidden depths between individuals, families and communities. Dysfunctional characters teeter on the edge of life, but despite underlying darkness, there is a sense of life and home, human kindness -- and strangeness.
This Book Will Not Save Your Life
ISBN 978-1-926531-04-5
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Too big for regular medical equipment, Sylvia Swamp is on her way to a veterinary hospital for an emergency procedure. While the ambulance workers try to keep her alive, Sylvia contemplates her life and her place in the dysfunctional family that she both idolizes and detests. Sylvia's mother, Ruth, is obsessed with the common sense advice in the book, Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care, but common sense is exactly what eludes her. Sister Sadie wants to follow in her mother's footsteps as an assistant to a magician. But once Sadie dons the sequins, Ruth must learn to share not only the applause but also the erotic attentions of Marvellous Marvin. Meanwhile, the somnolent Mr. Swamp turns to TV and booze for escape. Who in this misfit family will crack first?
Blind Crescent
ISBN 978-0-88801-441-2
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Welcome to Blind Crescent where everyone is watching but nobody sees a thing. In this fictitious slice of suburban life, Michelle Berry peels back the pretentions of manicured lawns and the rictus smiles of "friendly" neighbours. With a deft hand, she paints a picture of suburbia so absurdly real that every suburbanite reader can't help but feel strangely at home.