Friends I Never Knew

Anne Savoie is a youth counsellor in Anjou, Quebec.

This novel by Tanya Lester, a Winnipeg writer, playwright, and teacher,
is narrated by Tara, who seeks refuge in Cyprus in order to write her
friends’ life stories. Those friends are women who confront and
eventually surmount formidable obstacles: Juanita fights guerrillas in
the South American jungle; Lou fights to disseminate birth-control
information in Canada, in the 1930s; and Rita fights to help other South
Americans flee their country. Reading about their hardships makes
one’s own difficulties seem mundane. This is a beautifully written and
insightful novel that will inspire the reader to take a different look
at his or her friends, and discover someone new.