Etta and otto5/9/2023 ![]() ![]() As the narrative bounces back and forth across several decades, we are introduced to a series of characters, many of whom remain hazy. ![]() Notwithstanding the fourth name in the title, which is bestowed upon various characters in the book (most notably a talking coyote), a love triangle is at the heart of Hooper’s story. ![]() Alberta-born Emma Hooper’s debut novel, while quirky, pensive, and possessed of a quiet beauty, doesn’t entirely achieve that lofty goal. It would take a pretty spectacular book to breathe new life into these themes. But he knows, also, that this is something Etta must do on her own, and so after a short rudderless period, he finds ways to keep busy: teaching himself to bake from Etta’s recipes, cleaning the oven, and creating a papier-mâché menagerie as a gift for his wife when she returns home. He knows instinctively that Etta has gone east, walking the 3,232 kilometres to Halifax. ![]() I’ve never seen the water, so I’ve gone there.” Her husband, Otto, finds a note on the kitchen table, set atop a stack of faded recipe cards. Debut novelist Emma Hooper provides a carefully calibrated setting, but not all the elements in this book come through so vibrantly, writes Dory CernyĮarly one morning, 82-year-old Etta Kinnick puts on her boots, fills her pockets with a few necessary sundries, grabs the rifle from beside the front door and walks out of her Saskatchewan farmhouse. ![]()
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