The Elizabeth Stories

Janet Money is a writer and policy analyst for the Canadian Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation in Toronto.

Isabel Huggan’s first book, The Elizabeth Stories, is written in the Alice Munro tradition, a series of stories linked by the maturing of a girl growing up in a small town.

Elizabeth Kessler lives in Garten, a small Ontario town, and her near-constant desire to get out of Garten gives the frequent references to nakedness and sex a humorously allegoric ring. While there is a poignant note to many of the stories, there is also much humour, and Huggan balances the two elements skillfully.

In “Jack of Hearts” we suffer with Elizabeth’s casting in a male role for the ballet recital, and smile at her embarrassed squirmings when being fitted for her first bra: “‘Support is terribly important for big girls,’ Mrs. Mutch assures us, and goes on to warn of the horrors of sag and droop.”

Elizabeth’s 14-year-old crush on her science teacher turns sour in “Sorrows of the Flesh,” when the adored mentor is exposed as a wife beater. At the same time Elizabeth is surprised to observe both love and hate in her parents’ marriage.

A failed first try at sex marks Elizabeth’s last summer before university in “Getting Out of Garten,” and she stands, relieved by her escape, at the wedding of a pregnant girlfriend as the book ends.

Elizabeth’s relationships with her parents, her friends, a Mennonite housecleaner, and three separate disabled children are drawn unerringly by Huggan, whose debut promises more good writing ahead.