Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott is one of the contending titles for Canada Reads 2010. The Canada Reads website has my favourite synopsis:

Marina Endicott’s compelling novel Good to a Fault begins with a bang — two cars collide at an intersection. As the story unfolds, the lives of all those involved are unalterably jolted, too.

The driver at fault is 43-year-old Clara Purdy, who works at a Saskatoon insurance company. Affluent but unfulfilled, she has spent years nursing her dying parents and now finds herself alone.

The other car is home to an impoverished family on its way to Fort McMurray, Alberta, in search of a new start. The mother, Lorraine, the only one who’s injured in the accident, ends up in the hospital.

Feeling that she wants to do what’s right — and also that she’s to blame for the situation — Clara chooses to help not only Lorraine but also her sullen husband, their three children and the grumpy grandmother, Mrs. Pell. Clara’s decision brings chaos and complications into her life, along with powerful new emotions, both rewarding and painful.

I flew right through the book, seamlessly jumping between the narrators and following the story eagerly. It is a quintessentially Canadian novel and I think it has a very good chance to win Canada Reads 2010. The characters feel Canadian without their stories relying on taking place in Canada. I think it has something to do with Clara’s generousity, the children’s love, or even Lorraine’s understanding. Either way, the characters were compelling and pulled me in immediately. I was a little disappointed with the end, but at the same time realize why it was ended that way.

However, the story doesn’t have to be Canadian, so I think a wide range of audiences would enjoy it (and could perhaps be an arguement to vote it off Canada Reads). My only complaint, which is very minor, is the character’s names changing through the book. Darlene became Dolly, which was fine as she said it was her nickname already. But Clara became “Clary” in both dialogue, reference, and personal thoughts. I found this odd because it started as just the kids affectionately nicknaming her.

I picked up this book as part of our Canada Reads book club but unfortunately I’ll be missing the discussion on Sunday January 9th. So I also decided to join in the online Canada Reads Challenge! Two birds with one stone.

Read an excerpt from the publisher, Freehand Books.

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season celebrating (Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza, Festivus, Solstace, etc.) and are excited to bring in the new year.

Things went well here, besides the food coma CW and I ended up in. On Christmas morning we’d already exchanged gifts (iTouch for me and new camera for him) so we went downstairs to greet CW’s dad, girlfriend, and her family. We opened some presents with them, had a quick cup of tea, then headed over to the Care Home to visit Grandma RW.

Then we went to CW’s aunt’s house for present-giving with CW’s mom’s side of the family. One aunt has three small boys so present-giving is always quite the affair. After that, we headed back to CW’s dad’s house for Christmas Lunch at about 4:00pm. By 7:00pm we were back at Aunty LM’s having Christmas Dinner. As I said, food coma… but lots of great company and everything went smoothly.

Now that all the Christmas rush is over, I’m preparing to do my travelling in the new year. I’m planning to travel from January 4th to 22nd while CW is revising for his exam(s). I’ve got a long list of places to go, but on the top of the list is Stratford-Upon-Avon, Stonehenge, Bath, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, and York.

I’ll come back to Manchester a couple times and I have to use London as a travel-base for some of the cities, but it should be all right. The trains are superb here (compared to at home) and as it is the off season, I don’t need to book hostels far in advance.

I’ve got a lot that I need to blog about, so keep your eyes peeled and locked on the blog. I didn’t bring my laptop here (as I’ll be travelling) so CW is kindly sharing his with me.