Willow Wind Blows No Evil

Matt Hartman is a freelance editor and cataloguer, running Hartman Cataloguing, Editing and Indexing Services.

When Eszter Nemeth died in 1991 at the age of 100, she “was
predeceased by her husband, two sons, and five brothers,” and survived
by “three sons, three daughters, twenty grandchildren, twenty
great-grandchildren, and five great-great- grandchildren.” Willow Wind
Blows No Evil tells the story of this remarkable Hungarian woman.

Written in prose that is supple, strong, and unsentimental, the story
moves backward and forward, as Eszter and her family struggle with
Alberta prairie life during the early years of the 20th century.
Eszter’s life is also the life of her family, for whom the cataclysmic
events of the period—two World Wars and a major depression—are
secondary to the births, deaths, marriages, and friendships of the
closely-knit Hungarian community. As her relatives gather in 1991 to
celebrate her 100th birthday, the old woman’s thoughts are
exceptionally clear. Memories flow back, first in a trickle, then in a
flood.

A self-published book, Willow Wind Blows No Evil is a fine achievement.