Strange Heaven

By (author) Lynn Coady
Afterword by Marina Endicott
Categories: Fiction: general and literary, Fiction and Related items
Publisher: Goose Lane Editions
Paperback : 9780864923202, 198 pages, October 2000
Paperback : 9780864926173, 216 pages, May 2010

Description

She’s depressed, they say. Apathetic. Bridget Murphy, almost eighteen, has had it with her zany family. When she is transferred to the psych ward after giving birth and putting her baby up for adoption, it is a welcome relief — even with the manic ranting of a teen stripper and come-ons of another delusional inmate. But this oasis of relative calm is short-lived. Christmas is coming, and Uncle Albert arrives to whisk her back to the bedlam of home and the booze-soaked social life that got her into trouble in the first place. Her grandmother raves from her bed, banging the wall with a bedpan through a litany of profanities. Her father curses while her mother tries to keep the lid on developmentally delayed Uncle Rollie. The baby’s father wants to sue her, and her friends don’t get that she’s changed.

Awards

  • Winner, Dartmouth Book Award (Fiction) 1998
  • Short-listed, Governor General's Award for Fiction 1998
  • Winner, Atlantic Independent Booksellers' Choice Award 1998
  • Winner, Canadian Authors Association Air Canada Award 1998
  • Winner, Thomas Head Raddall Award 1998

Reviews

She's depressed, they say. Apathetic. Bridget Murphy, almost eighteen, has had it with her zany family. When she is transferred to the children's hospital's psych ward after giving birth to a baby and putting it up for adoption, it is a welcome relief — even with the manic ranting of a teen stripper and lurid come-ons of a young megalomaniac.

But this oasis of relative calm is short-lived. Christmas is coming, and Uncle Albert arrives to whisk Bridget back to the bedlam of home and the booze-soaked social life that got her into trouble in the first place. Her grandmother raves from her bed, banging the wall with a bedpan through a litany of profanities. Her father curses while her mother tries to keep the lid on developmentally delayed Uncle Rollie. The baby's father wants retribution, and her friends don't get that she's changed.

"An exciting debut ... rivalling Roddy Doyle's black comedies of Dublin life."

"An exciting debut ... rivalling Roddy Doyle's black comedies of Dublin life."

- Amazon.ca