Reviewed by Michelle Berry
Ana, a corporate lawyer, and James, a recently fired TV producer, have finally given up on all the medical tests and procedures. They have been trying for years to have a baby. Suddenly, friends (acquaintances really, as they don’t seem to hang out that much) are in an horrific car accident. The husband, Marcus, dies. The wife, Sarah, is in a coma.
And then there is Finn, their two year old boy, unharmed but virtually orphaned. Conveniently enough, it turns out James and Ana have been named Finn’s legal guardians – having agreed to this after too much wine at a dinner party. James throws himself into this new role but Ana, who has finally accepted that she can’t have children, doesn’t know what to think. After all, Sarah may wake up and reclaim Finn. Back and forth Ana and James go – daycare, work, coffee shops, groceries. They move together and apart through a beautifully depicted Toronto as they attempt to make Finn’s life as normal as possible.
The problem, though, is Life. Life is sneaking up on them. James is afraid to get old and so acts out in all the ways men who are afraid of aging act out (temptations of the flesh abound). Life is sneaking up on Ana. She’s overworked, haunted by her dysfunctional childhood (which seems to be creeping up on her the more time she spends with Finn), not sure that she wants to be a mother. But there is Finn, thankfully. Jolly, sweet Finn. He revolves around these two like the cartoon Tasmanian Devil – half wild and out of control, half snuggly. He’s beautifully shown – faults (shitty diapers) and kiss-able-ness (it’s hard not to love him). Finn grounds these two adult characters, wakes them up to the world around them, makes them pause and take stock of what they want and what they have.
While Sarah lies in a coma, James and Ana struggle to come to terms with their new roles. And they struggle with their relationship the way any new parents do after having children. They have to redefine themselves as a family, they have to restructure their lives and their love for each other.
Three-quarters of the way through this book I was hooked. It took awhile. I was touched all through. The writing is solid and fine. The author is gifted. But the plot wasn’t catching me at first. And then, Halloween night happens, Finn goes missing, and the novel takes off into a whirlwind of feeling and emotions so high-strung and tightly written that I had trouble sleeping after putting the book down. The sense of this couple’s frailty, of Finn’s strength, of Finn’s mother’s predicament and James and Ana’s struggle, is overwhelming. Onstad pulls you in and keeps you hanging, worrying, saddened and strung out. She wraps up the novel beautifully. A perfect ending to such emotional drama.
I grew to like these characters very much. To see their faults and weaknesses the way you would family – disagree, but accept them for who they are and move on. Onstad is a careful and detailed writer. She repeats nothing; there is no redundancy in her writing. These characters move forward in every sentence, they become stronger with every chapter. Onstad’s descriptions of people are wonderful. Take, for example, Ana’s boss, Rick Saliman:
Rick Saliman had spent thousands of dollars bonding his teeth and the result, when he pulled back the curtains of his lips, was a strange erasure of the lines between each tooth. Something smooth and terrifying, resembling a long, narrow bar of soap, sat where his smile should have been.
The plot is interesting enough to keep you reading, but its growing, eventual depth makes you really think. The novel is not all sad, too, which is a feat considering its topic. Ana gives advice to some female lawyers at a firm party: “‘I have only one piece of advice for your generation,’ said Ana. The two women leaned in. ‘Get off Facebook. It will back up on you.’”
Everybody has Everything is an interesting title. It feels sarcastic (after all, Ana and James do have everything but, in the end, almost lose it all), and preachy (after all, Sarah and Marcus, Finn’s parents, lose everything), but it also rings true in other ways – everybody does have everything, but often not the things we think we want. And those things we think we want are not often what we need. Katrina Onstad tangles the reader emotionally so that by the time the book is done you have a lot more to think about than merely the plot.
McClelland & Stewart | 312 pages | $22.99 | paper | ISBN # 978-0771068980
‘Everybody Has Everything’ by Katrina Onstad
Book Reviews
Ana, a corporate lawyer, and James, a recently fired TV producer, have finally given up on all the medical tests and procedures. They have been trying for years to have a baby. Suddenly, friends (acquaintances really, as they don’t seem to hang out that much) are in an horrific car accident. The husband, Marcus, dies. The wife, Sarah, is in a coma.
And then there is Finn, their two year old boy, unharmed but virtually orphaned. Conveniently enough, it turns out James and Ana have been named Finn’s legal guardians – having agreed to this after too much wine at a dinner party. James throws himself into this new role but Ana, who has finally accepted that she can’t have children, doesn’t know what to think. After all, Sarah may wake up and reclaim Finn. Back and forth Ana and James go – daycare, work, coffee shops, groceries. They move together and apart through a beautifully depicted Toronto as they attempt to make Finn’s life as normal as possible.
The problem, though, is Life. Life is sneaking up on them. James is afraid to get old and so acts out in all the ways men who are afraid of aging act out (temptations of the flesh abound). Life is sneaking up on Ana. She’s overworked, haunted by her dysfunctional childhood (which seems to be creeping up on her the more time she spends with Finn), not sure that she wants to be a mother. But there is Finn, thankfully. Jolly, sweet Finn. He revolves around these two like the cartoon Tasmanian Devil – half wild and out of control, half snuggly. He’s beautifully shown – faults (shitty diapers) and kiss-able-ness (it’s hard not to love him). Finn grounds these two adult characters, wakes them up to the world around them, makes them pause and take stock of what they want and what they have.
While Sarah lies in a coma, James and Ana struggle to come to terms with their new roles. And they struggle with their relationship the way any new parents do after having children. They have to redefine themselves as a family, they have to restructure their lives and their love for each other.
Three-quarters of the way through this book I was hooked. It took awhile. I was touched all through. The writing is solid and fine. The author is gifted. But the plot wasn’t catching me at first. And then, Halloween night happens, Finn goes missing, and the novel takes off into a whirlwind of feeling and emotions so high-strung and tightly written that I had trouble sleeping after putting the book down. The sense of this couple’s frailty, of Finn’s strength, of Finn’s mother’s predicament and James and Ana’s struggle, is overwhelming. Onstad pulls you in and keeps you hanging, worrying, saddened and strung out. She wraps up the novel beautifully. A perfect ending to such emotional drama.
I grew to like these characters very much. To see their faults and weaknesses the way you would family – disagree, but accept them for who they are and move on. Onstad is a careful and detailed writer. She repeats nothing; there is no redundancy in her writing. These characters move forward in every sentence, they become stronger with every chapter. Onstad’s descriptions of people are wonderful. Take, for example, Ana’s boss, Rick Saliman:
Rick Saliman had spent thousands of dollars bonding his teeth and the result, when he pulled back the curtains of his lips, was a strange erasure of the lines between each tooth. Something smooth and terrifying, resembling a long, narrow bar of soap, sat where his smile should have been.
The plot is interesting enough to keep you reading, but its growing, eventual depth makes you really think. The novel is not all sad, too, which is a feat considering its topic. Ana gives advice to some female lawyers at a firm party: “‘I have only one piece of advice for your generation,’ said Ana. The two women leaned in. ‘Get off Facebook. It will back up on you.’”
Everybody has Everything is an interesting title. It feels sarcastic (after all, Ana and James do have everything but, in the end, almost lose it all), and preachy (after all, Sarah and Marcus, Finn’s parents, lose everything), but it also rings true in other ways – everybody does have everything, but often not the things we think we want. And those things we think we want are not often what we need. Katrina Onstad tangles the reader emotionally so that by the time the book is done you have a lot more to think about than merely the plot.
McClelland & Stewart | 312 pages | $22.99 | paper | ISBN # 978-0771068980