Description
Small Reckonings
By Karin Melberg Schwier
John V. Hicks Long Manuscript Award, 2019
City of Saskatoon/Saskatoon Public Library Saskatoon Award, 2021 Saskatchewan Book Awards
Glengarry Book Award Jury Short List, Recognition of Literary Excellence, 2021
In the early 20th century, as homesteaders in Saskatchewan are scratching out hard new lives on the Canadian prairie, William, an adventurer from New Zealand, brings his new bride, Louise, to the freshly broken earth of his farm near Watrous.
Physical and emotional isolation take their toll on everyone struggling to survive in the harsh landscape, and when William and Louise’s second child, Violet, is born “feebleminded,” it plunges Louise—a woman burdened with a dark secret—back into a time of shame and regret, even as the child draws out goodness and loyalty from her neighbours, Hank and Emily.
Then tragedy upends the family, and William, while struggling to raise and protect his daughter and find his way to forgiveness, must come to terms with the fact that no one is infallible.
“Characters in this Watrous, SK-based historical novel-set between 1914 and 1936-are exquisitely and sympathetically drawn, the plot moves, and the portrait of this small town and its multi-ethnic pioneers rings true and clears as windchimes in a prairie breeze . . . This story succeeds so well because the writer’s learned the tricky art of literary balance. As skilled as she is at penning descriptive scenes, they never slow the pacing of this taut novel. The book’s structure is nuanced, and seemingly minor details–like a fishhook caught in an eye–have resonance. The characters are people we know . . .” – Shelley Leedahl
” . . . intricately told historical novel (with) modern connotations broaching our current conversation around trauma, consent, and sexual assault . . . Scenes linger, resonate in the mind.” – Hicks Judges Elisabeth de Mariaffi and Rabindranath Maharaj
” . . . an excellently-rendered story to be treasured for its intense understanding of human plight and pluck, tenderness and trauma.” – Saskatchewan Book Awards Judges
“With beautiful writing that will resonate with readers who know these prairie skies, but also with readers who long to explore this country of ours, this nuanced and powerful book is a stunning exploration of love, disability, family, and loss.” – Alice Kuipers
“Small Reckonings is a graceful, poignant debut novel, with the strong character of Violet at its heart. Considered vulnerable by her community, she turns out to be feisty and courageous. Her story, and that of her family, unfolds against the sweep of prairie with compelling power. Karin Melberg Schwier has given us a novel to treasure.” – Anne Simpson
$9.99 – $24.99
Additional information
| Weight | N/A |
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| Dimensions | N/A |
| Format | Trade Paperback, EPUB |
8 reviews for Small Reckonings
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Coleen Wilson –
Thank you or your beautiful gift, Karin. It flowed fast for two days. Intriguing. Very much alive. A master class in teaching the hard-fought prairie experience. Actually, your book was more photographic than the written. I especially enjoyed the bits of yellow breaking through the draining drab of hard days, landscapes and souls.
Also a beautiful portrayal of Violet, challenging the labels of disabled. I, myself a child of parents who were young in Depression times – people of the caragana, lilac, crocus and relentless drought despair. Another thing I really liked about your book was how you set up the timeline. Peeking curiosity in the beginning and basically give out clues all along the way. I was a wonderful way to involve the reader all throughout the spiraling story.
I, myself as a girl child, where sexuality was often a weapon of power, directed without forewarning, never taught to have the right to say yes, or no.
Thank you so much for writing this book, with many story lines, so many lessons. Stories that often were hidden. Those who lived them tried to forget them. Heartache and shame with no blessings.
I await your next masterpiece. And now I’m going to read your book again.
Teri Alison, Florida –
It is such a beautiful , sensitive, honest , compassionate story.
I could picture the farm, the prairie, and all the characters in the story .
Details hold the interest of the reader, and bring the whole lovely story together.
I hope to get the sequel….where did Violet’s life take her, did she see John William again, did Louise come back into her life, did William find a new love????
Thank you so much.
Deb Newlyn, Vancouver –
I finished Small Reckonings last night. Very intense and beautiful and such a picture of Saskatchewan. My sister sent me the book and I found it took me back to our childhood.The way we grew up in the 50s and 60s was so similar to what it was like for them in the book during the 30s. It seems that things were slow to change for the first half of the century and maybe up to the 70s. I could hear the caraganas snapping in the late summer heat! So many familiar memories and It was so good and that I read it consistently to the end is testament to that. I’ve had a lot of trouble sticking with books to the end ever since my Dad died, so the book seems to have broken that block. Another thing was the realistic and sympathetic portrayal of Violet, and how her community and family treated her.
Dennis Petrie, Indianapolis –
Like so many others, I loved the book, of course. Its strong and moving characterizations within a tour de force of controlled narrative are elegant and enjoyable, due in part to its masterful use of figurative language. And its themes are large.
One of my friends, Michael, told me that he stayed up until three-thirty in the morning because the narrative pulled him straight to finishing the novel in one sitting. Like me, he’s definitely ready for that second book!
Sandy Ridlington, Corvallis, Oregon –
Aside from the fact that I would have loved this book for itself and not just because it resonates with me, I couldn’t believe how closely it parallels my own experiences. When I was 8 my mother, after a very difficult pregnancy, gave birth to my youngest sister, Susie. My pregnant mother had gone outside to chase cows off the grass when she slipped and fell so hard that she ripped the placenta slightly loose and began to hemorrhage. When Susie was 5, she was finally diagnosed as learning disabled.
Like the family in Small Reckonings, we lived on a somewhat isolated farm. Like William, my mom was completely devoted to her child. Even though it was the 1950s and not the 1930s, people still said awful things to my mom like, “Susie belongs in an institution.” Mom kept Susie home until she was 20; finally, the somewhat enlightened law decided that intellectually disabled people should be integrated into communities and since then Susie has lived in a series of group homes.
I was impressed with how well Karin understands not only disabled individuals, but the people who love them—the isolation, the loneliness (my mom always said that the loneliest position in the world is to be the parent of a special-needs child), the demands. She is really great on the relationship between Violet and her older brother. I remember being protective of, embarrassed by, and frustrated with Susie, sometimes all at once. I’ve been Susie’s guardian for over 10 years now. There are also always special people like Hank and Emily for whom someone like Violet is just another person. We all have talents and limitations. And Karin seems to know small farms well. Echoes of Willa Cather and Marie Sandoz.
Helen Davis, Westlake Village, California –
I enjoyed Small Reckonings immensely. The story was intriguing and the characters well developed. I could almost taste and smell pioneering farm life in Saskatchewan. I read your acknowledgments and realized that you had family farm stories from your background. It must have been fascinating research as well as a labor of love. I liked reading Violet’s perspective which certainly shines a positive light on the “feeble minded”. The message of forgiveness and acceptance is such a good one too. Reading it I kept thinking of how beautifully descriptive it was yet the story moved along quickly.
I’m so happy to hear how well received your first novel has been. Now I guess you have no choice but to publish the next one.
Carol Kavanagh –
What a lovely novel…the prairie life of the period so carefully described…I saw the detail of items on the kitchen shelf accurately rendered. Violet was so beautifully presented and I was very moved by the pathos of her situation. Thanks so much, Karin for this look into the life of a Down’s syndrome girl. I really appreciated understanding more about her life. Nothing bogged this novel down for me. It moved along and I had to keep reading.
Lisa Mitchell, Startup, Washington –
I was worried at first by all the descriptive words and “fluff,” but those quieted and the characters came into view. Like viewing Violet as a box of “fluffy” ducks! That thought has become one of my happy places, as I’m sure it was hers, too. This family quickly became people that I cared about.
I enjoy the simplicity and slowness of life in the early 1900’s. It is a great reminder for me to slow down, take a minute and look outside.
I also cherish knowing that love stays the same. People could not love someone more or less in past decades, love never changes.
Karin has a gift for not only letting us see what is happening but feel what is happening. I was absorbed into the story and would rather grab my book over my phone.
Looking forward to the sequel.