The Truth Is

Susan Patrick is a librarian at Ryerson University in Toronto.

In this collection of stories, Mary Soderstrom ponders the meaning of
truth, invention, motives, and trust. For her characters, events and
people are rarely what they seem. In “Always Assuming That You Want to
Know the Truth,” a woman tries to make sense of a sick practical joke,
involving a missing dead body, that foreshadows a tragedy. In
“Testimony from Men Who Knew Her,” which takes the “impartial”
shape of court transcripts, the truth about a young woman’s death
gradually emerges despite the lies that are told. Many of the stories
concern women who try to extract themselves from dead-end situations but
are taken advantage of by men. These are women, of varying ages, in
crisis, coping with problematic relationships with parents, boyfriends,
husbands, and children. Most of the stories are set in Montreal.
Descriptions of smoked meat sandwiches at Ben’s, Park Avenue flats,
the Westmount lookout, Mount Royal Cemetery, and the like convey a
strong sense of place and local color. These thought-provoking stories
have an emotional impact that lingers with the reader.