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Canadian Authors - General fiction - |
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Roses Are Difficult Here |
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 Roses Are Difficult Here byW.O. Mitchell McClelland & Stewart [A Douglas Gibson Book] 328 Pages, TPB 2000 ISBN 0771061099 Reviewed by Zaheera Jiwaji Read our author profile and reviews of his other works The cover photograph of this edition of Roses Are Difficult Here is taken from Courtney Milne's book, W.O. Mitchell Country (McClelland & Stewart, 1999). It shows the Alberta foothills - a landscape much-loved by Mitchell, and captured in his many novels. First published in 1990, this entertaining novel, filled with humour and energy, takes us to the fictional town of Shelby in the Alberta foothills. Matt Stanley, publisher and editor of the local paper the Shelby Chinook, finds himself wondering if he ought to have settled in this small town where it is reputed that roses are difficult to grow. Writing about the blameless lives of Shelby citizens (they did not embezzle, nor were they ever debauched, disrobed or defrocked) pales in comparison to his early hopes of writing The Great New World Novel. Is this dissatisfaction prompted by the arrival of June Melquist, a sociologist who has come to study Shelby people and Shelby ways? Everyone in town seems to think so, including Matt's wife Ruth. Soon, obscene letters on lavender stationery begin to arrive in the mailboxes of some of Shelby's citizens. Is Matt guilty of what he is being accused of? Mitchell cleverly shifts narration between the various characters to reveal their secret thoughts and fears, providing the reader with generous insight. Roses Are Difficult Here is filled with colourful characters. There's Rory and Mame Napoleon, of whom people say: there's a lot worse that can happen to us, look at the Napoleons; the outlaw Clem Derrigan, Nellie Fitzgerald, Aunt Fan and others. Laugh-out-loud episodes and bittersweet discoveries round off this endearing novel. At its conclusion, we are left with a longing to return to Shelby for another visit with old friends. |
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