Sitting Shiva on Minto Avenue, by Toots

Definitely closer to 4,5*

Incredibly touching reflection of grief, and what it means to refuse to let someone be “ungrievable.” The juxtaposition of anecdotes, materiality, scholarly reflections and impactful raw emotions was unexpected, yet it gives this book wings.

The fact that this book was intended as a mourning process, not meant to be published, makes it even more impactful that we are able to let ourselves be touched by the importance that Paul Émile Savard has had in Toots' life. There is a fictionality in how the memoir is sewn together that holds all the parts, disjointed at times, brilliantly together.