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    On the Shores of Darkness, There Is Light: A Novel
    On the Shores of Darkness, There Is Light: A Novel
    On the Shores of Darkness, There Is Light: A Novel
    Audiobook11 hours

    On the Shores of Darkness, There Is Light: A Novel

    Written by Cordelia Strube

    Narrated by Michelle Monteith and Scott Gorman

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Harriet is 11 going on 30. Her mixed-media art is a source of wonder to her younger brother, Irwin, but an unmitigated horror to the panoply of insufficiently grown-up grown-ups who surround her. She plans to run away to Algonquin Park, hole up in a cabin like Tom Thomson and paint trees; and so, to fund her escape, she runs errands for the seniors who inhabit the Shangrila, the decrepit apartment building that houses her fractured family.
    Determined, resourceful, and a little reckless, Harriet tries to navigate the clueless adults around her, dumpster dives for the flotsam and jetsam that fuels her art, and attempts to fathom her complicated feelings for Irwin, who suffers from hydrocephalus. On the other hand, Irwin’s love for Harriet is not conflicted at all. She’s his compass. But Irwin himself must untangle the web of the human heart.
    Masterful and piercingly funny, Strube is at the top of her considerable form in this deliciously subversive story of love and revelation.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherECW
    Release dateDec 5, 2016
    ISBN9781770909564
    On the Shores of Darkness, There Is Light: A Novel
    Author

    Cordelia Strube

    Cordelia Strube is the author of ten critically acclaimed novels. She has been nominated for the Governor General’s Award and the Trillium Book Award and has been longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

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    Reviews for On the Shores of Darkness, There Is Light

    4/5

    14 ratings3 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Eleven-year old Harriet is saving up to run away to Algonquin Park, near Ottawa. Her life is intolerable. Little brother Irwin, who idolizes Harriet but has hydrocephalus, takes all the time, attention, and caring her mother and her live-in boyfriend Gennady have to give. Her best friend shoplifts and wants to teach her to. Her father is too busy with his new wife's efforts to conceive to have time for Harriet and Irwin. Harriet loves to dumpster dive and make art out of her finds, but the adults in her life think the art is ugly, and they belittle her efforts. The oldsters living in her low-income apartment building pay her to run errands for them, but income is slow to trickle in, and they get angry when she raises her rates. At the same time, they're some of her best friends. As Harriet gets more and more desperate, she takes a step which leads to disaster.The story is picked up several years later by Irwin, who has difficulty learning but is otherwise a nice kid who is avoided by just about everyone because of his head size. His best friends are also the people who live in the apartment building. Told from Irwin's point of view, many of the observations made by Harriet show surprising alternate interpretations. Like her, he is looking for a way to make his life bearable. These two children, each affecting the other's life so profoundly, are two wonderful characters who leave a lasting impression. Harriet is very funny: bitter, sarcastic, and observant, her story drives the action. The tragedy which mars her life also affects the reader strongly, but by the end of the novel the reader finally gets some relief from the tension and some (welcome) tears. Highly recommended.(E-book from NetGalley.com)
    • 5/5
      This is an astounding, brilliant, beautiful book that broke my heart and then stomped on it. How could you do that to me? But also, thank you.
    • 4/5
      I am not going to rehash the plot, the book description is a good start. Harriet is a very original character, a self sufficient young lady whose observations of those around her are vastly amusing. She sees and thinks things most people do not and her crude language will make many a parent cringe. They live in Sangria apartments, a low income place with single moms, or moms with rotters for husbands and a large assortment of senior citizens. Many characters, all we come to know in the course of the book, and some of them had me in stitches.So life goes on, until it doesn't. While reading this I couldn't help wondering where this book was going but I was thoroughly shocked at the direction it took. Ten years later, and some of the characters are going on, some have left us and some are barely coping. This is written in a very amusing manner but there are many serious issues at play. There are layers upon layers and characters that are so very real, as are the issues they have to deal with. A book that is not getting the attention it deserves in my opinion and I thank Elyse for bringing it to my attention. Finished this yesterday and have thought about it on and off all day. These characters will not leave you easily. A very good observation on how children view our actions, even when they make sense to us. A very good and well written read, a book that should have a huge impact on its readers.ARC from Netgalley.