“I was hooked from the first sentence and couldn’t put this book down. Once again Frey has established a pitch perfect familial concert of insightful humor, deep caring, alternated with ambiguous frustration, anger as well as misunderstanding or outright lack of concern — all the emotions that connect families and their foibles in a deeply touching and nuanced style. As with all of Frey’s writing, every syllable is selected to enforce that dynamic that characterizes families and the way they relate to each other and the outside world. Cecilia Frey is to Canadian literature what John Updike represents to American literature, a voice that harkens clearly to the multi-generational and multi-media interfaces of contemporary families. Moments of Joy is a book to be read and reread.”
—Elona Malterre, author of The Last Wolf of Ireland
“Cecilia Frey’s new novel Moments of Joy is about Love and Death and Sex and Life. In this multi-generational family saga, Frey gets inside the tortured or inspired (or both!) relationships between father and son, husband and wife, brother and sister. Complex dynamics are described in intricate detail, bolstering a plot that keeps us turning pages as family secrets are revealed one after another. Frey’s explorations of Manfred’s dementia and physical decline draw us in with their familiarity—mirroring what so many of us are going through as we care for aging parents. It all adds up to forgiveness, for others and for oneself.”
—Ursula Pflug, author of Motion Sickness and The Alphabet Stones
inannaadmin –
Moments of Joy
by Cecelia Frey
reviewed by Annie Wesko
FreeFall Magazine – Volume XXVI Number 1 – Winter 2016
“Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way according to Tolstoy.” (99)
The family in Cecelia Frey’s novel represents characters with their peculiar dysfunction. Central is Manfred Weiszl, aged patriarch dying of cancer in the top floor of a splendid old house in Toronto. At the circumference are sister Pauline and her retinue. At the lower level is the resident housekeeper Marie Delaney,”a grand example of womanhood” (68) frequently ravished by the lusty Steve Nagy. Not present, but playing significant roles are Manfred’s late wife Gertrude; Manfred’s estranged son Rupert; and brother Eric, deceased.
“[T]he house so full of people. Why, then, did he miss so dreadfully the ones who were not there?” (118)
With humour and compassion Frey explores this multigenerational family and how its members relate to one another and to the outside world relating to impending death, failures, marriage breakdown, sex and longing, gender identity. The reader witnesses the various family members’ penetrating pain and frustration, anger and apathy; but also vivid memories of intense gladness, rapture, exultation, and mirth. Every character is capable of substantial moments of joy.
Notably, only Steve experiences joy in the present, often with Marie when she isn’t resisting his considerable charms. Otherwise Marie rejoices in her station in the household. Frey has endowed Steve Nagy with the position of peacekeeper and enlightening rod. She establishes opportunity for him to circumvent the middle floor to infiltrate Manfred’s private bedroom where he offers his strength, comfort and compassion, part of which includes his undertaking to restore Rupert into the family dynamic.
I was overwhelmed by the skillful machinations that Frey utilized to enable Steve, a veritable outsider, to neutralize the anger and burdens of this disparate family; then to have him seize and ensure his own happiness.
Cecelia Frey lives and works in Calgary. She is a three-time recipient of the Writers Guild Of Alberta Short Fiction Award and the author of five novels, three books of short fiction, and five collections of poetry.
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Moments of Joy by Cecelia Frey
reviewed by The Miramichi Reader – January 17, 2016
http://miramichireader.ca/2016/01/moments-joy-review/
In a recent review, I lamented the fact that the novella in question should have been a novel in order that the story and characters could be more fully formed. With Moments of Joy (Inanna, 2015) Cecelia Frey has created an entire novel from what could easily have been a shorter book. It was a great read and I found the story thoroughly engrossing from start to finish.
Synopsis
Manfred Weiszl, a former professor and owner of a Toronto publishing house lies dying of cancer in an upstairs bedroom in the family home in Toronto. Unknown to him, his dying is the catalyst for a series of family issues to come to the fore, including an estranged son, a brother’s suicide as well as his own misgivings about his life and how he has treated (or mistreated) others.
Moments of Joy is divided into four parts, each one fully developing not only the back story of Manfred’s life, but also of the prime characters in the present who are all affected by his dying. Foremost among them is his sister Pauline, with whom he has, and always had, a close relationship, much to the consternation of other family such as Manfred’s wife Gertrude and their son Rupert. Rupert himself had left home some thirteen years previously after the death of his alcoholic mother, accusing his father of ‘murdering’ her. Then there are the grandchildren, one whose husband has left her for a man, another who is dealing with her own sexual identity. Oh, and don’t forget the ‘outsiders’ like Marie, the longsuffering resident housekeeper and her boyfriend Steve who will play an integral role in reconciling the family in unexpected ways. At some point, I thought that this book was like a modern, lesser version of Downton Abbey, and like that series, is a well-told story on all fronts.
A Most Intriguing Story
There are several intriguing parts to this book. One is how Ms. Frey scripts the thoughts of a slowly dying man laying helpless on his deathbed. Calmed by morphine, Manfred’s words are at times lucid and at other times unintelligible to the listener. But his thoughts are semi-coherent as he sorts them out in his head and reflects back on his life, although at times his drug-induced dreams interfere, further confusing him. Unbeknownst to Manfred, several dramas are playing out right within his own home as the family deals with his impending death as well as their own inter-relationships past and present.
What I Liked
Moments of Joy was a relish to read. I especially took pleasure in the way Ms. Frey played out Manfred’s thoughts as he lay helpless and dying in his bed. Two other fascinating parts of the book was Steve’s eerie first encounter with Rupert’s wife Elizabeth, and Rupert’s lone whiskey-fueled musings in a bar which leads to a visit to his father’s house, his first in thirteen years.
If you are searching for a good read that deals with some of life’s big questions, and does it gracefully so, then Moments of Joy is well worth reading.