Join us for a discussion of "Semi-Detached", a recent novel by author Elizabeth Ruth. "Semi-Detached" contends with living after loss, love, and the meaning of home.
"If you’re looking for a novel that reads like an old-fashioned love story, but that also features some decidedly modern elements (including the fact that this is a dual-timeline queer romance), this will definitely be your kind of book."
— Ann Douglas, The Honest Talk
Navigating stories of home, disaster, and forces we can't control (from weather to fertility to love), "Semi-Detached" is urgent and deeply human storytelling from a writer whose singular voice transports readers from the first page. As Laura digs into her silent client's past, her investigating takes her back to another historic Toronto storm, that of 1944. As she discovers things not only about the homeowner, a woman who navigated queer love in unforgiving mid-century Toronto and paid a great price, she is forced to face truths about her own life, from the loss of her mother to her crumbling marriage. As all this goes on, a ghost-like character emerges in the form of a mysterious teenage girl with a tiny dog and a desire to enter Laura's life. (Open Book)
Elizabeth Ruth is the author of the acclaimed novels, "Semi-Detached", "Ten Good Seconds of Silence", "Smoke", and "Matadora". Her work has been recognized by the Writers’ Trust of Canada Fiction Prize, the City of Toronto Book Award, the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, and One Book One Community. CBC named her “One of the Ten Canadian Women Writers You Must Read.” Elizabeth’s debut poetry collection, This Report Is Strictly Confidential is forthcoming, in fall, 2024. She is also the author of a plain language novella for adult literacy learners entitled Love You to Death and the editor of the anthology Bent on Writing: Contemporary Queer Tales. Elizabeth has worked as writer-in-residence within the Toronto Public Library, Kitchener Public Library and the Oshawa Public Library systems, Before publishing, Elizabeth worked with homeless women and children, counselling in the areas of violence, trauma and recovery. She holds a BA in English Literature, an MA in Counselling Psychology, and an MFA in Creative Writing. Elizabeth Ruth teaches creative writing at the University of Toronto and lives in the city with her family.
Request Semi-Detached here.