Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall: Stories

Marcia Sweet, formerly head of the Douglas Library’s
Information/Reference Unit at Queen’s University, is currently an
Ottawa-based information consultant and freelance editor.

This pleasant little book, which is mostly about the lovingly boisterous
members of a Montreal West Indian immigrant family, is rich in the
detail of daily life.

It isn’t clear why the author has assigned a season to each of the
four stories, and “You Always Promise” seems unrelated to the other
stories, which are part of a family chronicle. “Soir d’Hiver”
portrays a family characterized by supportive, positive relationships
and respect for each person. “The Touch of Death” examines the
psychological impact of a death in the family in terms that are more
philosophical than emotional; the narrator notes that “one death
connects us to other deaths we have experienced,” as he looks around
the cemetery, which is “banked with the dead.” “Pancakes”
depicts the affectionate bantering between teenage cousins as they
prepare to embark on adulthood, while the powerful “You Always
Promise” features a three-way conversation between a runaway child,
his teenage mother, and the young narrator who tries to bring them
together.

The book is unpretentious and simple in the best sense of the word. If
it has a flaw, it’s that the characters are shown only in the context
of an unremittingly loving family. Only “You Always Promise”
exhibits the kind of tension that makes for really compelling writing.