What are the chances?

On May 6th, I was named as a finalist for the 2020 Kobo Emerging Writer Nonfiction Prize. On that same day, “Anne” posted a review of The Stone Frigate on Goodreads in which she succinctly captured the layers of messaging I was hoping to convey in my memoir. Goodreads is the world’s largest website for readers and book recommendations with a WORLDWIDE membership of 90 Million people.

On May 11th, during an interview on my property with local Reporter Tyler Harper of The Nelson Star about my nomination, I remembered “Anne’s” Goodreads review, ran into the house, printed a copy, handed it to Tyler as he was leaving and said that she had beautifully summed up various aspects of my story.

Imagine my surprise while attending a Nelson book club event on zoom the very next weekend and a club member named ANNE mentioned her recent Goodreads review of my book! Turns out, she is the very same Anne and she lives in Nelson!! We had never met. She thought I lived in Ontario.

A few days later, The Nelson Star ran my interview with Tyler Harper as the weekly cover story complete with a quote from Anne’s review.

Anne and I recently met in person, after surrendering that waiting for COVID-19 restrictions to lift may take longer than we’d like to wait, for a photo shoot. I’m not sure if it gets any more fun that this!?! The expression “it’s a small world” doesn’t even begin to cover it.

p.s. I was invited to join her book club and jumped at the opportunity!

Here’s Anne’s Goodreads review. Thank you Anne.

Goodreads

Anne—May 6, 2020

This book resonated deeply with me. I expected it to be merely about a young woman’s journey: enduring a gruelling crucible to emerge triumphant, having transcended the myriad challenges of immersion in a misogynistic institution. 

But Kate Armstrong’s memoir is much more than that. The author recounts in compelling detail the frightening isolation one feels as a child orphaned and excluded by her parents, struggling with their own private anguish, unable to love. 

That the author was able to remain unbroken, to treat her bleak upbringing as a kind of motivational push to pass muster at RMC, is inspiring. 

The book also took me back, way back, remembering the naïveté and preoccupations of youth—the rabble-rousing, the intense do-or-die romances, the relentless preoccupation with full acceptance by one’s peer group. 

Finally, I think Ms. Armstrong has something important to say to the #metoo generation: Don’t expect justice or fairness; don’t expect the powerful to yield privilege. But work that reality, and don’t yield your dream or objective, your place. It’s hard, yes, and at times, it will seem impossible. But it is necessary for life lived on our own terms. 

Highly recommend.