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Description edit
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... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
The novel is told in the style of a memoir and is not fully chronological; therefore there is no classical plot line. The most present-day events detail the involvement of the main character, Nomi, with Travis, whereas she also explores her past and how her family came to be so... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters/People edit
- Naomi "Nomi" Nickel: The protagonist. She is sixteen years old, living in a Mennonite town. Her name is actually Naomi, but her sister, Tash, could not pronounce it and called her Nomi instead.
- Raymond "Ray" Nickel: Nomi's father and the family member that has not left town. Ray is quiet and rather reserved.
- Natasha "Tash" Dawn Nickel: Nomi's older sister. She left town with Ian, her boyfriend. She is an atheist and was excommunicated.
- Gertrude "Trudie" Dora Nickel: Nomi's mother. She left town seven weeks after Tash, after being excommunicated herself.
- Hans "The Mouth" Rosenfeldt: Nomi's uncle, her mother's older brother. He is also the church minister and is a powerful, controlling presence in the community.
- Lydia "Lids" Voth: Nomi's good friend, a Christian girl. She is stuck in the hospital for an unknown, fatal disease. She is eventually moved to a mental hospital.
- Travis: Add a description of this character.
- Ian
- Mrs. Klippenstein
- Mrs. Mcgillivray
- Eldon
- Bert
- Mr. Quiring
- Sheridan
- Clayton
- Lou Reed
- John Lennon
- Roy Orbison
- Carson
- Mr. Schlitzking
- Dr. Hunter
- Huck
- Tom
- Marvin Fast
- Fred
Quotes edit
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“The place Trudie traveled to most often was the church basement. The women have to spend a lot of time there. If they don’t they go to hell. (Who’re you gonna serve? Missionaries in Botswana, or Satan? That’s right. Any questions? Didn’t think so.) Their job was to sew clothing and blankets for the missionaries and send it all overseas in barrels. Trudie hated it. She was supposed to do all sorts of stuff at church, cook for weddings and funerals, quilt, teach Sunday school and just generally get her a** in humble helping gear. They were always calling her and asking her if she could spare some time to help out. It wasn’t really a question.”
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“I ‘m sure that my mother’s silent raging against the simplisticness of this town and her church could produce avalanches, typhooons and earthquakes all over the world. But there is a kindness here, a complicated kindness. You can see it sometimes in the eyes of people when they look at you and don’t know what to say.”
Nomi -
“A few weeks ago my uncle came over to borrow my dad’s socket set and when he asked my dad how he was my dad said oh, unexceptional. Living quietly with my disappointments. And how are you?I never know if he’s joking when he says things like that or not.”
Nomi -
“Main street is as dead as ever. There’s a blinding white light at the water-tower end of it and Jesus standing in tthe centre of it in a pale blue robe with his arms out, palms up, like he’s saying how the hell would I know? I’m just a carpenter.”
Momi -
“...and the way he always reminded me to signal when I turned. Nomi, he said you just need to wake up to the fact that other people need to know where you’re going. But there’s nobody behind me, I told him. And he said, reassuringly, that someday there may be.”
Nomi -
“Being seasick at sea is not the same as being homesick at home.”
Nomi -
“It’s raining questions around here. A person could drown in them.”
Nomi -
“I would ask Mr. Quiring if he remembers all that but I don’t really want to have conversations about the past with anybody but myself. It prevents discrepancies from creeping in.”
- Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
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Somehow all the problems of the world manage to get into our town but not the strategies to deal with them.
Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers -
But I guess if you can die without ever understanding how it happened then you can also live without a complete understanding of how.
Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers -
But there is kindness here, a complicated kindness. You can see it sometimes in the eyes of people when they look at you and don’t know what to say.
Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
Setting & Locations edit
First Sentence edit
I live with my father, Ray Nickel, in that low brick bungalow out on highway number twelve.
Authors & Contributors edit
- Miriam Toews (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Add the publisher.
Country: Add the country of publication.
Publication Date: Add the publication date.
ISBN: 1582433216
Page Count: 246
Publisher: Add the publisher.
Country: Add the country of publication.
Publication Date: Add the publication date.
ISBN: 1582433216
Page Count: 246
Awards edit
- Giller Prize (Finalist, 2004, Shortlist)
- Young Adult Canadian Book Award (2005)
- CBC Canada Reads (2006, #1)
Subjects edit
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