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A Complicated Kindness: A Novel Audiobook
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(3.00) - 7,327 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Sixteen-year-old Nomi Nickel longs to hang out with Lou Reed and Marianne Faithfull in New York City’s East Village. Instead she’s trapped in East Village, Manitoba, a small town whose population is Mennonite: “the most embarrassing sub-sect of people to belong to if you’re a teenager.” East Village is a town with no train and no bar whose job prospects consist of slaughtering chickens at the Happy Family Farms abattoir or churning butter for tourists at the pioneer village. Ministered with an iron fist by Nomi’s uncle Hans, a.k.a. The Mouth of Darkness, East Village is a town that’s tall on rules and short on fun: no dancing, drinking, rock ’n’ roll, recreational sex, swimming, make-up, jewellery, playing pool, going to cities or staying up past nine o’clock. Living with her father, Ray, a sweet yet hapless schoolteacher whose love is unconditional but whose parenting skills amount to benign neglect, Nomi struggles to cope with the back-to-back departures three years earlier of Tash, her beautiful and mouthy sister, and Trudie, her warm and spirited mother. Father and daughter deal with their losses in very different ways. Ray, a committed elder of the church, seeks to create an artificial sense of order by reorganizing the city dump late at night. Nomi, on the other hand, favours chaos as she tries to blunt her pain through “drugs and imagination.” Together they live in a limbo of unanswered questions. Nomi goes through the motions of finishing high school while flagrantly rebelling against Mennonite tradition. She hangs out on Suicide Hill, hooks up with a boy named Travis, goes on the Pill, wanders around town, skips class and cranks Led Zeppelin. But the past is never far from her mind as she remembers happy times with her mother and sister — as well as the painful events that led them to flee town. Throughout, in a voice both defiant and vulnerable, she offers hilarious and heartbreaking reflections on life, death, family, faith and love. Eventually Nomi’s grief — and a growing sense of hypocrisy — cause her to spiral ever downward to a climax that seems at once startling and inevitable. But even when one more loss is heaped on her piles of losses, Nomi maintains hope and finds the imagination and willingness to envision what lies beyond.
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"Toews' coming-of-age novel about a teen girl struggling with her faith in an oppressive Mennonite community is at once funny and heart-breaking. Nomi Nichols is a girl who rebels at every point, dreaming of escaping her small town and the control of the Mouth - her uncle and head of the church. It would be easy to dismiss Nomi as just a kid hell-bent on breaking every rule and ruining her life with drugs and sex and truancy. But when Nomi's sister and mother both flee the town and the church, Nomi is the only one left to hold together the broken pieces of her father's life. She is both bitter and poignant in her dealings with faith, and Toews writes in a way that grabs the heart. The more control the church takes, the more her family spins out of control, and the entire book might easily be summed up in Nomi's words: "I think now I'd call it grief. It's hard to grieve in a town where everything that happens is God's will. It's hard to know what to do with your emptiness when you're not supposed to have emptiness." There are no easy endings to this story, but what Toews leaves Nomi - and her readers - with is hope. Small and fragile and impossibly difficult, but hope nonetheless."
— Heidi (4 out of 5 stars)
Awards
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Winner of Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award - Fiction Book of the Year, 2004
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Winner of Governor General's Literary Awards - Fiction, 2004
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Nominated for Scotiabank Giller Prize, 2004
A Complicated Kindness Listener Reviews
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" Didn't finish the book but from what I read it wasn't my cup of tea "
— Ashley, 2/17/2014 -
" sad...sweet...unusual "
— Mew, 1/24/2014 -
" I really didn't get this book--about the only thing I learned is that the Mennonites were started by a guy named Menno Simon. There seemed to be a lot of angry people in this book. "
— Marilyn, 1/23/2014 -
" The narrative voice that tells the story of "a complicated kindness" is highly compelling. She is sarcastic, honest and intelligent. Life is getting her down in a small western Mennonite town, and no wonder. Things could be better. I felt that the thoughts of a sixteen year old in crisis were very accurately portrayed and that the novel was indearingly funny and human. My favourite of Miriam Toewes works. "
— Heather, 1/21/2014 -
" well written but subject matter was sad. protagonist was like a Mennonite Holden Caulfield. "
— Judy, 1/18/2014 -
" Top book for me. "
— Ingrid, 1/13/2014 -
" Funny and heartbreaking. "
— Fran, 1/11/2014 -
" Not my favorite. Interesting to have a behind the scenes look into a colony, but I had to chew through it. "
— Reidjules, 1/4/2014 -
" This book was so depressing. I am glad I read it but don't read it if you want something happy! "
— Becca, 11/21/2013 -
" I was disappointed by the ending of this book. "
— Johanne, 10/24/2013 -
" Small town Canadian fiction, really good. "
— Lisalou50, 10/9/2013 -
" Really enjoyed the dark witty humor throughout. Quick read. "
— Tim, 10/6/2013 -
" If you are a fan of the plot-driven novel, this is not your book. If, however, you appreciated character-driven novels, no one is better than Toews. "
— Erin, 9/30/2013 -
" Not bad... the main character definately was complicated. LOL! I did empathise, but couldn`t relate at all. I was engaged throughout the book, but was not knocked off my feet. "
— Car, 6/7/2013 -
" Deeply depressing but ironically funny in parts. I actually rated it 3 1/2 stars. "
— Teddy, 4/28/2013 -
" Loved it....quirky, great narrator, dark humour, a must-read. "
— Susan, 4/20/2013 -
" I have to say I was a little disappointed with this book. It was good, but the way it is written is a little confusing for me. Did manage to finish but not sure I liked the ending..... "
— Lisa, 11/22/2012 -
" This book is by far the best I've read this year. Miriam Toews's power of description and sense of humor hit the mark. "
— Karen, 7/12/2012 -
" Very entertaining and well-written, but not enough forward movement in the plot to keep me engaged. "
— reed, 6/19/2012 -
" I have not gotten through much of it, it is ok, just not what i am looking for in a book right now. It is about a high school girl, around the same time I was a HS girl, still gives me angst! It is well written, and I am sure anyone else would enjoy it! "
— Denise, 12/2/2011 -
" A compelling story. Had no idea where this was going. Y "
— Jodie, 10/12/2011 -
" interesting story, well written.. "
— shelley, 8/12/2011 -
" An interesting look at the life of a Mennonite girl and her family as they battle between their religious teachings and the pull of the modern world. You really get the feeling that this story has been written by a teenager in angst. "
— Tracy, 8/8/2011 -
" This book was such a great ride! Alternately hysterical and tragic, a very original voice in this coming of age book. "
— Janet, 8/8/2011 -
" totally enjoyable - i love the voice of the young girls in a segregated religious community. I want to go slooooow reading this to relish every word. "
— Annie, 5/20/2011 -
" The strength to think for oneself. "
— Kate, 5/9/2011 -
" A Canadian coming of age story of a girl who's mother and sister leave the family at different times. The reader isn't sure why till the end. It's a rambling sort of story where it's not so much as linear as flashes of memory. It was enjoyable and funny and I didn't want it to end. "
— Sarah, 5/3/2011 -
" kind of a downer - I am still worried about the lead character though...hope she finds some brightness and sunshine soon. "
— Margo, 5/1/2011 -
" I was hoping that this book would have more insight into the Mennonite religion as it had promised. "
— Misty, 4/28/2011 -
" Cdn. Author, Governor General Award and Giller Prize Short list. A wonderful story of human emotions and the enslavement of a Mennonite community in Manitoba. I loved this book and the way the author exposed me to Canadiana that I wasn't aware of. "
— Greg, 4/13/2011 -
" So well written and so wise. One of my favorite books I've read this year. "
— Jon, 4/6/2011 -
" Meh, has potential but, lacks structure. "
— Bryan, 4/5/2011 -
" April 6th, 2k11 - so far? I'm only giving this a 3. It doesn't really turn my crank. <br/> <br/>But I'm seeing it through - it's only 3 disks of audio. Something to do while playing some serious jig saw or maajong. <br/> <br/>........... <br/> <br/>Finished - and still feel the same way - a 3. "
— Carly, 4/5/2011 -
" I read this quite some time ago and loved it. I am now about to start Irma Voth also by Miriam Toews and apparently a follow on to this book. "
— Judy, 4/3/2011 -
" A beautiful book about a rebellious teen growing up in a stifling Mennonite community. Somewhat Catcher in the Rye-esque. Funny, heartbreaking, adventurous and real. "
— Terri, 3/17/2011 -
" This took me a little while to get into, the rhythm is kind of different and, at times, for me, hard to follow, but I ended up really, really liking it. I don't think everyone would love it (though I know a few who REALLY would), but it's good. How's that for vague? "
— Heather, 3/15/2011
About Miriam Toews
Miriam Toews is the author of several acclaimed bestselling novels and one work of nonfiction, Swing Low: A Life. She is winner of the Governor General’s Award for Fiction, the Libris Award for Fiction Book of the Year, the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, and the Writers’ Trust Engel/Findley Award.