Donna Morrissey is one of the most expressive, vibrant, newish writers to come down from Canada...Newfoundland, originally. Yes, there are lots of fish in the sea (sticking to the theme): young, hip writers who've come from the best programs, whose prose is word perfect. But most of them, I've found, don't really have much to say! They don't have the life experience or the insight to make really sympathetic characters swim on the page. Donna does. Fished from her own life, the people who come so alive in her books will drive you crazy with their stubborn behavior and awkward ways. Some of the turns they take make you want to jump in and wring their necks! And yet--and here's the sign of a well-drawn character--you love them, you agonize with them, and you cheer for them until the bittersweet end. And as if her stories weren't compelling enough, they're written in the most delightfully musical Newfoundlandish dialect, which I think helps the reader get into the right mindset even more easily. One danger: you might want to start reading out loud, just for the fun of hearing yourself talk this way.
Donna's newest novel, Sylvanus Now, will be in American bookstores in April of this year. It came out in Canada and Europe last year to tremenous acclaim, and I'm going to do my best to get it off to a similar start here in the states. If you haven't read her previous two books, start now. Kit's Law and Downhill Chance are available at your local, independent bookstore right now. In short, Donna's storytelling is structured like an iceberg: at first, you only see the tip, but eventually, everything is revealed, and it takes your breath away. Your only quandry will be finding another book good enough to follow one of these.
~Fischlipps
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