The Opening Sky
CBC Books | CBC | Posted: March 10, 2017 7:08 PM | Last Updated: April 13, 2017
Joan Thomas
Liz, Aiden and Sylvie are an urban, urbane, progressive family: Aiden's a therapist who refuses to own a car; Liz is an ambitious professional, a savvy traveler with a flair for decorating; Sylvie is a smart and political 19-year-old, fiercely independent, sensitive to hypocrisy, and crazy in love with her childhood playmate, Noah, a bright young scientist. Things seem to be going according to plan.
Then the present and the past collide in a crisis that shatters the complacency of all three. Liz and Sylvie are forced to confront a tragedy from years before, when four children went missing at an artists' retreat. In the long shadow of that event, the family is drawn to a dangerous precipice.
From the book
The guy with the bad skin is back with her toast. He hands her the coffee in a Styrofoam cup. "I gave you my mug," she says. So he reaches for her mug and pours the coffee into it and drops the Styrofoam cup into the garbage. Without a second thought!
"Wait," Sylvie says. "Why do you think I'm carrying a mug?" But he's turned away. She wants to make a fuss but she's no better than he is. All night she was aching for a Starbucks latte. She can't help it, she's been socialized like everybody else, she was born the year the Starbucks mermaid lost her nipples.
Emily has her laptop out when Sylvie gets back to the table. Sylvie sits down beside her and starts to eat her toast, keeping her eyes on the screen.
From The Opening Sky by Joan Thomas © 2014. Published by McClelland & Stewart.