Roost
By Ali Bryan
3.5/5
()
About this ebook
Ali Bryan
Ali Bryan is a personal trainer who grew up in Halifax and attended high school in Sackville, New Brunswick. She is a graduate of St. Mary's University and completed a graduate certificate in creative writing from the Humber School for Writers under the tutelage of Paul Quarrington. She was a finalist in the 2010 CBC Canada Writes literary contest for her essay "Asshole Homemaker" and a bronze medalist in the 2012 Canada Writes literary triathlon. Ali lives in Calgary with her husband and three children. Her real name is Alexandra. Roost is her first novel.
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Reviews for Roost
10 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5(Fiction, Contemporary, Atlantic Canadian)Roost was chosen as the One Book Nova Scotia selection for 2015.Set in Halifax, Nova Scotia, it relates a slice of life for Claudia, a recently-single mom of two pre-schoolers, whose mother dies suddenly at the age of 60. Claudia must cope not only with her own grief, but also that of her brother, and of her father – who starts to hoard. Plus, her ex is moving to another relationship.I found this to be laugh-out-loud funny, but it does contain a lot of crude language.4 stars
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Ali Bryan's debut novel Roost is the amusing and oddly touching story of Claudia, single mother and marketing professional. Narrated in Claudia's edgy, fast-paced, plain-spoken voice, the novel takes us through a series of personal crises as she struggles to wrangle her children-—Wes (four) and Joan (two)-—and cope with her father's erratic behaviour following the death of her mother. Separated from Glen, who is still in the picture but showing distinct signs of moving on with his life, Claudia's days are already complex and hectic before her mother's sudden death during a Caribbean vacation. After this her father becomes an additional worry. But Claudia cannot slow down or take time off. Life and career continue to make demands and she has no choice but to meet them head on. Ali Bryan's Claudia could very well be the prototypical 21st-century single mom: a young woman for whom emotional fulfillment is elusive and who makes it through the day with her head hovering just above the waterline, thankful for any stray moment of peace she can snatch, a glass of wine in one hand and a soggy diaper in the other. Though none are particularly capable, and all have troubles of their own, she is unashamedly reliant on sympathetic friends and family to hold it all together. Not above bribing her kids with fast food and ice cream to get them to behave, and calling her kitchen appliances assholes when they don’t cooperate, Claudia is hardly a candidate for mother of the year. But she does what she has to and succeeds (more or less) against sizable odds, and by these means wins over the reader. Her business trip to Calgary is a brilliant set piece, in itself worth the price of admission. Ali Bryan has written a witty, sharply observed and genuinely entertaining novel that will appeal to readers who can appreciate its ironic perspective. And for the sociologists among us, it is also a wry and astute commentary on family, sibling rivalry and contemporary life in urban Canada.