The Flying Troutmans

Hattie Troutman, single, age 28 had left her home and family in Canada over frustration concerning her sister's psychiatric problems. After living in Paris a few years, Hattie was jilted by her boy friend, Marc. It was at this time that she received a collect call from her eleven year old niece, Thebes asking her to come back to help with Min. Min was hospitalized in the psych ward. Hattie's 15 year old nephew was expelled from school over a misunderstanding. Unwilling to face the responsibility of a long term commitment to caring for her sister,Min, her purple haired niece, Thebes, or her non communicative nephew, Logan. Hattie came up with a plan. She packed the car and the kids and took off on a cross country trip from Canada, to California, and finally to an encampment just over the border in Mexico in search of the children's father, Cherkis. The wild chase across the miles is merely the skeleton of a plot that reveals amazing insights into adolescence, dysfunction, and normality. Miriam Toews has created identifiable characters that bring out compassion. They reflect moral awareness, reality, and the need for human touch. Toews writing exposes the psyche of the adolescent. "The Flying Troutman's" is heartrending, entertaining, and hilariously funny.

A road novel helped along by a lovably nutty cast, Toews's latest (after A Complicated Kindness) follows a ragtag crew as they crisscross America. Hattie, recently dumped in Paris by her "moody, adjective-hating boyfriend," returns home to Canada after receiving an emergency phone call from her niece. Turns out, Hattie's sister, Min, is back in the psych ward, and her kids, 11-year-old Thebes and 15-year-old Logan, are fending for themselves. Thus the quirky trio-purple-haired, wise-beyond-her-years Thebes, recently expelled brother Logan and overwhelmed Hattie-embark on a road trip to the States to find the kids' long-missing father. What follows is a Little Miss Sunshine-like quest in which the characters learn about themselves and each other as they weather car repairs, sleazy motel rooms and encounters with bizarre people. Toews's gift for writing precocious children and the story's antic momentum redeem the familiar set-up, and if the ending feels a bit rushed, it's largely because it's tough to let Toews's characters go.

Miriam Toews is the author of "The Flying Troutmans", and she is of Mennonite descent. Leaving the conservative gravity of a community like the Mennonites to write a "worldly" book as Ms. Toews has done intrigued me. What might her characters evince of such a background? The story is told from the perspective of a young adult named Hattie, whose dull and colorless boyfriend had just dumped her in Paris. A recalcitrant Hattie comes to Canada to help out her older sister Min, who is in the puzzle house, with her two kids: a precocious middle-schooler named Thebes and her older brother Logan. Early on a sense of suspense revolves around a deadbeat father somewhere in the United States. Finding the father is the motivation for an "improbable"--as another reviewer writes--road trip and also get to know one another, as well as themselves. This is high drama spiced up with genuine comedy. I disagree with some of the other reviews suggesting that this is not a literary work. Toews employs a technique I hadn't seen before. She mixes novel-like dialogue with a play-like dialogue. I think this is very interesting because the latter takes the reader into a more close-up conversation between two people than a perfunctory hi-bye type of speech.

This was an extremely well written novel by a talented author. I could not put it down. It is a story from Canadian, Hattie Troutman's perspective about the effect her sister Min's mental illness had played on her parent's life, her life, Min's children Thebes and Logan's life, and the children's father Cherkis' life. The author thoroughly developed each character to the point where I could see 10 year old Thebes purple matted hair and irritating mannerisms and hear her colorful language and smell her body odor. I felt annoyed along with her 15 year old brother Logan as she taunted and aggravated him. I could feel Logan's anger and understand his frustrations and his need to be alone from time to time dealing with his determination to tolerate and protect his sister and cope with his unstable broken family situation. I could visualize Hattie's airhead ex-lover, Marc, in Paris and Hattie's determination to look out for the best interest of her niece and nephew without abandoning her needy self-centered manic depressive and psychotic sister. In spite of the fact that Min tried to drown Hattie as a small child, a scene that resulted in their father's death attempting to save them, Hattie loved Min and thoughout her life waited patiently for the depressive stormy side of Min to subside and the gentle loving side to resurface. Much of the setting in this book took place in various parts of the country as Hattie travels from Canada across America with Logan and Thebes in a clunker van and keeps the reader on edge encountering dangerous situations and surprises on the road trip while searching for Cherkis. Although this book has a painful side to it and some of the characters use profane language, drugs and alcohol to excess, this is a book that will undoubtedly become a best seller. The symbolism and imagery is noteworthy and the author's skillful storytelling abilities will keep you on edge and sometimes make you laugh out loud. You will think about this book long after you put it down. I think it is best suited for mature readers. I am glad I had the opportunity to read this book and look forward to reading Miriam Toews other novels.

I must admit, I didn't have very high expectations for this book. I read "A Complicated Kindness" by Miriam Toews, and I wasn't very impressed by it. However, as soon as I began "The Flying Troutmans," I could tell it was going to be a completely different reading experience. This book is about Hattie, a 28-year old woman who takes over caring for her niece and nephew when her older sister, Min, is institutionalized. Hattie, Logan, and Thebes embark on a spontaneous road trip in search of the childrens' father, and learn a lot about themselves and each other in the process. This is a terrific book. Toews has a very unique writing style, and I became completely engrossed with the story from the very first page. All of the characters are dynamic and endearing, and I felt very invested in their outcome. I enjoyed "The Flying Troutmans" very much and highly recommend it.