The Tide that Binds

What I Was
Meg Rosoff
Doubleday Canada

Set in an English backwater boarding school during the early 60s, What I Was tells the story of 16-year old Hilary --a boy who has already mastered the art of disaffection. Having been expelled from two schools previously, H ends up at St. Oswald's and quickly settles into the same old routine of bad food, worse dorms and the torturous attentions of upper classmen. Just living in such a dour and dismal place proves to be an exercise of Sisyphean proportions. It all changes, however, the moment H meets Finn -- a boy of almost unbearable beauty who lives in a cabin at the edge of the sea.

H is taken with the young man on a number of levels. In fact, it is almost as if Finn is the mirror of what H desires to be --independent, confident, capable, smart and elusive. It has been quite some time since I have read a book that so captures the feelings first love -- the excitement, anxiety, fear and absolute yearning for someone other than yourself. As the friendship between the two characters grows, Rosoff takes her readers to an almost magical place where anything is possible. The real world eventually intrudes, however, and H's idyll collapses like a wave crashing against the sand.

What I Was is a lovely story in all ways. The author's prose was passionate, intimate and at times, left me breathless -- so much so that I want to visit the land, sea and sky that she has beautifully described. The fact the the story eluded my expectations was an unanticipated bonus. Three and a half wheeling seabirds out of five.

Reading America

Run

Ann Patchett

Harper Perennial

One of the coolest things about my job is that I get to travel. Oh sure, sometimes it's a total drag, but if I'm honest with myself, I have admit that there are way more ups than downs. Take this past week, for example. When I left Toronto on Monday morning, we were in the middle of a freak snow storm. Tuesday morning found me running outside in shorts and tank top, watching the sun come up over the hills in LA. Who could complain about that?

Another benefit of being on the road is that I get to try on cities. Some, like Chicago, have the comfortable feeling of favourite sweater. I know I could live there and not feel out of place. Others, like Miami, are way more exotic ... kind of like eating a spicy new dish -- looks interesting, but you're not always sure that you're going to like it. Like travelling, reading can also let you try out new places. This week's novel, Run, is set in Boston and the city just pops out of the pages of this book.

Set over a period of 24 hours, this book is about family -- the ones you're born with and the ones you choose. It is about obligation -- both perceived and real and how that sense of duty nurtures and destroys. The book is also about love -- the kind that stretches beyond death and fills your soul with joy and sorrow. And finally, it is about secrets -- the unsaid truths that shape our thoughts and actions in unanticipated, sometimes unpredictable ways. In a nutshell, this book is about our own families. Read it if you dare. Three unhurried walks along the Freedom Trail out of five.