Ravi Singh shares three books on breakups and divorces
The Next Chapter columnist Ravi Singh is a runner, a reader and a newly-wedded husband. He joined host Antonio Micheal Downing not to talk about happily ever after, but to talk about breakup books.
Autopsy of a Boring Wife by Marie-Renée Lavoie, translated by Arielle Aaronson
Autopsy of a Boring Wife by Marie-Renée Lavoie is an unexpectedly funny story about a woman named Diane whose husband of 25 years says she's too boring to stay with, so he leaves her for a younger woman. Diane dreams up ways to get her husband back, torture his new girlfriend and move on with the support of her best friend and three children.
Ravi said that the way the main character was written built a strong sense of empathy in him.
"You can see the compassion that the author has for Diane. And I think that's an underrated quality in some books, and something you don't always pinpoint. But it's one thing that makes me love a book," he said.
You can see the compassion that the author has for Diane.- Ravi Singh
"And when Diane was on the therapist's couch, being vulnerable, exploring the extreme vulnerabilities of her situation, I just wanted to reach to the page and give Diane a hug."
Marie-Renée Lavoie is the author of three books, including Mister Roger and Me (La petite et le vieux in French), which won Radio-Canada's Les combat des livres in 2012. Lavoie lives in Montreal.
Three by D.A. Mishani
Set in Tel Aviv, Three is the story of three women Orna, Emilia and Ella — two of whom have gone through a significant breakup. All three women come across a man named Gil — who seems nice enough at first — but Gil isn't quite what he seems.
Singh says he was impressed by Mishani's portrayal of divorce from a female perspective.
"This is something I'm not an expert on, but in terms of what a recently divorced woman might have to navigate, especially when as a society, care work generally is downloaded onto women, then in divorce that may be exacerbated. How he gets into the minutiae of that — I was incredibly impressed by."
D.A. Mishani is an Israeli literary scholar, editor and crime writer.
See Now Then by Jamaica Kincaid
See Now Then tells the story of a couple living in a small New England village with their two children as they move through time, and experience all of the joys and agonies a marriage has to offer.
Singh says he [notices] a pattern in the books he read.
"I noticed something particular about the husband in each book, which was a certain self-centredness. A tendency to see things as happening to them individually, as opposed to a family or marital unit. A centring of their own feelings, kind of above everyone else."
I noticed something particular about the husband in each book, which was a certain self-centredness.- Ravi Singh
The husband in See Now Then, his name is Mr. Sweet. He's constantly thinking about what he imagined his life would be, and what it is not. And therefore he's very miserable. He's very bored. He never asks, is my wife possibly bored as well?
- Jamaica Kincaid on family, place and the beauty of language
- 9 Books you heard about on CBC Radio recently
Born Elaine Potter Richardson in Antigua, Jamaica Kincaid moved to the United States when she was 17. Once there, she wrote highly autobiographical fiction such as Annie John, Lucy and The Autobiography of My Mother, as well as a memoir about her brother who died from AIDS.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
