Miriam Toews
A Boy of Good Breeding by Miriam Toews is a delightfully quirky novel with a motley crew of delightfully quirky characters.
The setting is a small Canadian town. But this is not just any small town. With its fifteen hundred inhabitants, Algren has the notable distinction of being the smallest town in Canada. And Mayor Hosea Funk is anxious to keep it that way. Any less inhabitants would classify it as a village; any more and it would be considered a large town. The mayor has received a letter from Canada’s prime minister notifying him that his town is being considered for an official congratulatory visit from the prime minister on July 1 on condition, of course, that the number of inhabitants remains the same. Hosea Funk anxiously tabulates the births, deaths, and inhabitants leaving or entering town. He desperately wants to meet the prime minister because his mother, Euphemia Funk, announced on her death bed that the prime minister is his father.
The well-meaning, anxiety-ridden Hosea Funk is just one of the quirky characters in this charming little town. There is Knute, a twenty-four-year-old single mother who moves back to town to help take care of her aging father. She has in tow her three-year-old daughter, Summer Feelin’. Summer Feelin’ has the habit of furiously flapping her limbs like a bird when she is excited. Max, Knute’s estranged boyfriend, shows up, determined to make amends and to know his daughter. His mother, Combine Jo, is an alcoholic who drives her combine up and down Main Street, causing a ruckus. There are deaths and births, exits and entrances, all of which are interrupted by the appearance of Bill Quinn, a stray dog who straddles around town as if he owns the place.
This is a novel in which very little happens. What makes the narrative so engaging is Miriam Toews’ ability to take a novel about nothing and turn it into something charming. Her characters are quirky, authentic, and delightful. Somehow, she has us worrying with Hosea about the entrance and exit of each inhabitant. We feel for Knute and Max and want them to get back together to make a family. We sympathize with Gord when his wife, Veronica, takes her newly born triplets and leaves him. And we sympathize with Veronica when she walks out on her husband for giving her little support in raising their existing brood of children. These are believable people, struggling to deal with relationships and struggling to belong.
Miriam Toews paints her characters with all their foibles and idiosyncrasies in gentle, compassionate brush strokes and laugh out loud humor. This is a beautifully written novel with the tender heart that has become the hallmark of Miriam Toews’ books.