The Montreal Cats

Louise E. Allin, a poet and short-story writer, is also an English instructor at Cambrian College.

Lois Braun has had a distinguished career, with many nominations for
Canada’s top literary awards. This third collection of short fiction
reinforces her skill at storytelling. The Montreal cats in the title
story are as distinctive and curious as the rest of her characters. In
“Toxic Wastes,” Uncle Otto’s trip to the dump is riotous and
poignant. “Burial Games” features a young

boy whose harmless shenanigans drive his neurasthenic teacher over the
brink in a prairie tale reminiscent of a Hugh Garner story but with a
darker twist. Her voices are clear and faithful to their age, sex, and
time. Girls giggle about marriage plans. A shy pumpman from the hills
debates whether to take the karaoke stage. A stalker haunts a woman long
after his death and her move across the country to the sun-bright
dreamland of Los Angeles. Weird bush folk like Dave and Irene “jump”
across the border for their dangerous entertainment, bouncing their
reluctant guests over dark and bumpy back roads, looking over their
shoulders for the RCMP. Descriptions delight: “slow-baked pork slabs
slathered in sweet ketchup and hot mustard and sugar and butter; her
mashed potatoes stirred up with horseradish and sauerkraut; early corn,
cooked on the cob, with kernels glowing like pearls through an envelope
of steam.” Braun can move the reader from anguish to exaltation in the
flick of a image, as a pair of stolen tennis shoes becomes a joyous
initiation, dangling forever over a high wire.