Captivity Tales: Canadian in New York

Susan Manningham teaches sociology at Queen’s University in Kingston.

Trapped in her dark, insular apartment in the heat of a New York summer,
frustrated by the suspension of her life due to the demands of her two
small children, and feeling homesick for a place that is cool and safe
and polite, Hay begins an exploration, which is threatened with loss.
Her unhappiness and problems lead her to write about other Canadians
whose lives have been touched by New York. Her exploration becomes a
metaphor for Canada’s ongoing identity crisis.

Hay’s interweaving of recollection, remembrance, association,
history, biography, and Native legend is nothing short of brilliant. She
finds other Canadians in libraries and art galleries, demystifies the
maze that is New York City with Canadian landmarks, rolls back the
surface of the city to reveal the underworld of Canadians who were there
before her. Hay switches seamlessly from her everyday world to anecdotal
and fascinating information about such expatriate Canadians as Teresa
Stratas, Glenn Gould, Marshall McLuhan, and Michael Snow. Few take to
transplantation; their “Canadianness” is crystallized by their
separation from home.

In searching out her stories, Hay discovers a world of memory and
connection that offers her a way home. This fresh, kaleidoscopic
exploration of Canadian cultural identity reveals the need to find
yourself by losing yourself, and to return home by leaving home.