On Twitter, I tweeted that this anthology was 'little-known'. It may have been 'little-known' to me but to the rest of Canada it was a 'publishing phenomenon'. I'm surprised that someone didn't write back, "Listen, kid." People are very kind.
This book has sat on my bookshelf untouched for years. I could have donated it to my local library or bookstore. I could have, but I was determined to read it--someday. That day came while searching for a suitable book to review for short story month.
What We Aren't Told
Edited by Carol Shields
and Marjorie Anderson
anthology
Volume one
Vintage Canada
a division of Random House Canada
2001
Dropped Threads is an anthology--as such I would liken it to a box of chocolate. I wasn't sure what waited for me among its pages--short stories or essays, fiction or non-fiction. (How to write a fictional essay) I enjoyed solving this mystery as I happily flipped from one author to the next.
The majority of the authors are Canadian (Rosalie Weaver lives in northern Minnesota), many are from Manitoba. Sandy Frances Duncan is from the Southern Gulf Islands. Imagine that. Some like Carol Shields, Margaret Atwood, Lorna Crozier, Miriam Toews are established authors. Others are academics, ranchers, politicians, homemakers, journalists, lawyers. They are all women. They all address the same question--what is missing from the body of female wisdom?
Among Dropped Threads mainly non-fiction essays ('Lettuce Turnip and Pea' by Anne Hart and 'Edited Version' by Isla James and 'Wild Roses' by Katherine Govier and 'Reflections from Cyberspace' by Carol Hussa Harvey and Katherine C. H. Gardiner are short stories)I found advice on how to grow old, deal with grief, praise for women's work, and observe what women gain during menopause.
'She who knows not
and knows not that she knows not
is uniformed; inform her'
Sandy France Duncan, 'I Have Blinds Now'
Dropped Threads 2: More of What We Aren’t Told
I'm fortunate to have a neighbour with a green thumband recently received this uplifting gift.
