The story behind Dr. Zhivago is as fascinating as the novel itself

Lynda Davis
October 11, 2019
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It's not a coincidence that Lara Prescott, the author of The Secrets We Kept is named after one of the main characters in Dr. Zhivago by famous Nobel-prize winning writer Boris Pasternak. With the first name of one of the lead characters, Lara Prescott was obviously born with an inherent interest in the novel and its story. Boris Pasternak was one of Russia's most famous and revered poets. As a favourite of Joseph Stalin, the position came with certain benefits such as a premium dacha in a closely monitored colony…

My Life as a Rat was not a fair sentence for an admission of truth

Lynda Davis
October 11, 2019
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A rat is someone who snitches on another person—someone who breaks a moral code by revealing the transgressions of a friend or family member. In My Life as a Rat, a new novel by Joyce Carol Oates, the snitch is a 12-year-old girl and the price she pays for breaking the code far exceeds what is fair and justified or what she deserved. Violet Kerrigan was born the youngest in an Irish Catholic family of seven children in South Niagara, near Buffalo, N.Y. They're a working-class family in a working-class town.…

It’s time to dump disposable fashion. Shop your closet

Lynda Davis
October 7, 2019
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The closing of Forever 21 retail outlets across Canada is a good news/bad news story. On one hand, it's a realization that consumers are beginning to reject the disposable clothing culture, but on the other hand, it means lost jobs for young people who often get their first working experience in retail. One of my favourite bloggers, retired university professor and fashionista Lyn Slater, The Accidental Icon posted a piece last week Clothes and Relationship: What's Yours? about recognizing the importance of cutting back on the amount of clothing that…

Jesse Thistle recounts his life From The Ashes of drugs and addiction to a life of helping others

Lynda Davis
October 3, 2019
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When I saw Jesse Thistle interviewed on CTV's The Social and heard his remarkable story, I just knew I had to read his memoir, From The Ashes, My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way. It's an honest, horrific recounting of his journey from being a homeless drug addict living on the streets of various cities for many years and serving time in prison multiple times, then rebuilding his life to become an Assistant Professor at York University in Toronto. Stories like this always inspire me and give me hope…

Did you ever get rid of something and later regret it?

Lynda Davis
September 30, 2019
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Back in the 1970s when I was finally making decent money, living the life of a modern career gal who had to put her best fashion foot forward, I invested in a winter coat at the Your Choice store in Scarborough Town Centre, that cost an embarrassing amount of money. It was by Canadian designer Pat McDonagh. Made of black and grey wool tweed shot through with cobalt blue, it came almost to my ankles, had giant banded sleeves and shoulder pads, and a large, soft, open pleat down the…

Very Nice is not about nice people, but it is a juicy read

Lynda Davis
September 27, 2019
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The only likable character in Very Nice by Marcy Dermansky is an apricot standard poodle called Princess, a.k.a. Posey. But that doesn't mean the book is not a fun read. On the contrary. Like the characters on Seinfeld, the various characters with all their flaws are colorful, individual and even understandable. When I first started reading, I wasn't sure if the book was a love story, a character study, a mystery, a comedy or a sex romp. Actually, it's all of these. Each chapter is written in the first person,…