When Irma Voth decided to marry someone who wasn't a Mennonite, her father's strange faith in a ruthless God required him to shut her out of his life. Having spent her early years in Canada, Irma has lived in Mexico since she was a teen and her life as a very young wife is harsh and unpredictable. She knows her husband Jorje is probably doing something illegal but he keeps going away and she really wants him to stay, so she doesn't push it. During one of Jorje's long absences, nineteen-year-old Irma's life suddenly takes a dramatic turn when a crew arrives to film a movie on the Mennonite compound and she's hired as a translator for the director. The movie crew's arrival creates a crack in the fragile balance of Irma's life and sends her on a path she'd never have dreamed.

This book was a dichotomous read for me. The writing is so delicate and purposeful, sometimes poetically beautiful. Irma is absolutely coming of age and as we read her thoughts, sometimes circular, sometimes astonishingly beautiful, you can tell she is working through some serious issues. But then other times, she frustrated me with her inability to be purposely a part of her own life. I wanted her to make decisions and act like she KNOWS something but her languidness really separated me from appreciating her as a character. I admit, the ending of the book helped to alleviate that somewhat, I think I understand her more now than I did in the middle, but I still sometimes felt like I was having an out of body experience as I read. Like it was real life, but not - a movie about Mennonites in the Mexican desert? It stretched me to believe it sometimes.

It certainly was a different kind of story, a heartbreaking story that takes you to the brink of redemption and just to the other side. Those who are sensitive to coarse language should be forewarned. I will say that I appreciated how it ended and found myself feeling very sympathetic for Irma by the time I closed the book.

I got an advanced copy of this book in the last Indiespensible volume and I loved it.

It’s serious and sad but also kind of weird and funny. I don’t even know.

There are Mennonites in Mexico and film makers and drugs and a baby who will rule the world.

Seriously, Irma Voth can get it.

Loved it! This is my 3rd of Toew’s books. Her books are consistently engaging and insightful, easy to read but also deep and meaningful. In discussing the particulars (mennonites in Mexico, filming a movie there, etc), universals truly do come through (the loneliness and senseless unfairnesses of human life, & how to find meaning despite them). Always recommend, though my favourite so far remains A Complicated Kindness.

Fascinating.

It took me a month to slowly read the first half and a day to read the spectacular second half.

I love the way Miriam Toews writes. A Complicated Kindness was so engrossing and lyrical that I couldn't put it down. Her Swing Low: A Life was equally engaging. Irma Voth, although enjoyable, was not of the same caliber. Some of the characters' actions and motivations were not quite believable. Nevertheless, if you haven't read this author's works, do yourself a favor and do so.

Originally published at Book Browse: https://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/2621/irma-voth#reviews

Author Miriam Toews has enjoyed modest success in her home country of Canada. Of Mennonite tradition and hailing from rural Manitoba, many of Toews's novels explore this way of life. She won the 2004 Governor General's Award for Fiction for [b:A Complicated Kindness|13374|A Complicated Kindness|Miriam Toews|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1428254943s/13374.jpg|970518], and she was awarded the 2008 Writer's Trust Fiction Prize for her novel, [b:The Flying Troutmans|2940207|The Flying Troutmans|Miriam Toews|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1377628484s/2940207.jpg|2969638]. All this to say, Toews has writerly chops.

[b:Irma Voth|10238952|Irma Voth|Miriam Toews|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327953268s/10238952.jpg|15138964] came about when, in 2006, she was approached to star in a film by Mexican director Carlos Reygadas. He was taken with her photograph - seen on the jacket of her novel, A Complicated Kindness - and felt she would be perfect to play the role of a Mennonite wife living in northern Mexico, trapped in a troubled marriage. Toews studied film at university but had never acted and, initially, thought Reygadas was a bit nuts. She ignored his emails for a long time but relented when he posited that being in his film "...will give [her] something to write about." (Silent Light, the resulting movie was an independent darling in 2008 and won the Jury Prize at the Cannes International Film Festival that same year.)

And write about it she did. Miriam Toews has a wonderful and minimalist style, and in Irma Voth she explores some familiar themes - a young woman's longing for freedom, getting by on wits alone, and a road trip. She has a great ability to take readers into amazing places that are a little bit strange but a whole lot inviting, and because of her incredible skills, I was very eager to dive into her new novel.

Irma Both revolves around a simple question posed by our protagonist: "How do I behave in this world without following the directions of my father, my husband, or God?" For a young woman raised within strict, old-order Mennonite beliefs, it is a disturbing question - one that unmoors Irma but also helps to ground her. At the beginning of the story, Irma has been disowned by her very strict and rigid father for secretly marrying a man who is outside of the Mennonite faith. While still residing in a separate house on her father's property, Irma and her husband, Jorge, struggle to communicate and make a go of their new marriage. This attempt is made all the more difficult as Jorge frequently absents himself from home for long periods of time.

Metaphorically, Irma is a widow and orphan at the age of nineteen, even though her family and husband exist. Her mother is portrayed as having two main functions - making babies and being subservient to her husband. Her sister Aggie, at only thirteen-years-old, is strong-willed, and more vocal and rebellious than Irma, though Irma does take her opportunities where she can find them. It is this relationship, the one between sisters, that Toews really explores. The level of maturity and capability of both girls is astounding. There is a resilience and hopefulness in Irma and Aggie that will make you cheer for them as they try to improve their lot in life.

Toews writes honestly and with humour, and her balanced style makes her work accessible to readers. We are given a beautiful literary story that becomes much more real with her interjections of observational wit. Her narrative never seems forced, instead it feels as though you are listening to a friend relay a tale.

05 October 2011 ©

Good book, liked it, but not as good as the one where the family goes in a road trip in a van.