Status
Available
Genres
Collection
Publication
Berkley (2013), Edition: Reprint, 384 pages
Description
Fiction. Literature. Juliet, Saskatchewan, is a blink-and-you-miss-it kind of town-a dusty oasis on the edge of the Little Snake sand hills. It's easy to believe that nothing of consequence takes place there. But the hills vibrate with life, and the town's heart beats in the rich and overlapping stories of its people: the rancher afraid to accept responsibility for the land his adoptive parents left him; the bank manager grappling with a sudden understanding of his own inadequacy; a shy couple, well beyond middle age, struggling with the recognition of their feelings for each other. And somewhere, lost in the sand, a camel named Antoinette.
User reviews
LibraryThing member brenzi
Dianne Warren won Canada’s prestigious Governor General’s Award in 2010 for Juliet in August (its title at that time was Cool Water) and has now made her American debut and an impressive debut it is. Juliet, Saskatchewan is a small (pop. 1,011), nondescript town on the edge of the Little Snake
Twenty six year old Lee Torgoson is not sure he is capable of carrying on with the successful management of the ranch his adoptive parents willed to him. Orval Birch, the bank manager, is overwhelmed with the responsibility his financial decisions wreak in the lives of his debt-laden customers, as well as the upcoming shotgun wedding of his daughter and the demands of his hard to please wife. Willard Shoenfeld and his sister-in-law run the local drive-in movie, while struggling with their feelings for each other. Hank Krass suspects that his wife, who runs the local café, believes that he is being unfaithful, once more. And Blaine Dolson is deep in debt, working a second job to make ends meet for his six children, and trying to get wife Vicki to take more responsibility in running the household efficiently. But Vicki, who seems to be oblivious to the desperation that her husband feels over their dire financial condition, continues to look on the bright side of things:
”Vicki Dolson always says of herself that she is not really capable of understanding great unhappiness. On the worst of days, she sees, or at least tries to see, the best. With the exception of something having to do with the kids,…she can’t think of anything that would make her mope for longer than an hour or two. It’s the way she was raised. So it’s hard for her to understand Blaine and the dark lens through which he sees the world these days…He’d first sold off his herd of Charolais-Hereford cross cattle, and then the bank has insisted on the dispersal of his machinery, and then the sale of all his land but the home quarter.”
The brilliance shines through as Warren weaves these disparate stories together to form the tapestry that is the town of Juliet. Her spare, poetic prose is perfect for revealing the innermost feelings of these complex characters. At some point I realized how much I cared for these people, how much I wanted them to solve their separate and diffuse challenges. Very highly recommended.
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sand hills, virtually a desert in Canada. Warren narrates her story through the overlapping lives of several of its residents, each struggling with life in different ways, during a twenty-four hour period.Twenty six year old Lee Torgoson is not sure he is capable of carrying on with the successful management of the ranch his adoptive parents willed to him. Orval Birch, the bank manager, is overwhelmed with the responsibility his financial decisions wreak in the lives of his debt-laden customers, as well as the upcoming shotgun wedding of his daughter and the demands of his hard to please wife. Willard Shoenfeld and his sister-in-law run the local drive-in movie, while struggling with their feelings for each other. Hank Krass suspects that his wife, who runs the local café, believes that he is being unfaithful, once more. And Blaine Dolson is deep in debt, working a second job to make ends meet for his six children, and trying to get wife Vicki to take more responsibility in running the household efficiently. But Vicki, who seems to be oblivious to the desperation that her husband feels over their dire financial condition, continues to look on the bright side of things:
”Vicki Dolson always says of herself that she is not really capable of understanding great unhappiness. On the worst of days, she sees, or at least tries to see, the best. With the exception of something having to do with the kids,…she can’t think of anything that would make her mope for longer than an hour or two. It’s the way she was raised. So it’s hard for her to understand Blaine and the dark lens through which he sees the world these days…He’d first sold off his herd of Charolais-Hereford cross cattle, and then the bank has insisted on the dispersal of his machinery, and then the sale of all his land but the home quarter.”
The brilliance shines through as Warren weaves these disparate stories together to form the tapestry that is the town of Juliet. Her spare, poetic prose is perfect for revealing the innermost feelings of these complex characters. At some point I realized how much I cared for these people, how much I wanted them to solve their separate and diffuse challenges. Very highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member lkernagh
Dianne Warren's debut novel is a captivating story set in and around the fictitious prairie township of Juliet, Saskatchewan. The story starts out in what I guess to be the early 1900's where a 100 mile horse race between two ranch cowboys occurs on a dry, hot August day. The tale of the horse race
Told through a series of connected stories and divided into 8 parts, the book follows the lives of a handful of local residents over the course of one hot, dry ordinary 24 hour period - from midnight to midnight. The reader is invited to see inside the complicated lives of the characters of Warren's creation: the young farmer Lee Torgeson, raised as a foundling and now left to manage the farm on his own; the drive in theatre owner Willard Shoenfeld and his quiet sister-in-law Miriam; farmers Blaine and Vicki Dolson and their six children struggling to make ends meet with a farm buried in debt; bank manager Norval Birch and his wife Lila who are not seeing eye to eye on the planning of their pregnant daughter's wedding; and farmer Hank Trass, who's helpful neighborly ways cause his cafe owner wife Lynn to have bouts of jealousy.
Warren bounces from character to character at the start of the book with each new chapter introducing the reader to the group and then revisits the characters in a similar fashion over the course of the 24 hour period, allowing the reader to get inside the characters as they grapple with issues, indecision, worry and reflection. The characters are so richly crafted they leap off the pages of the book, almost as if they are shouting "Hey, look at me, I want to tell you something." Warren's prose and writing style is in keeping with the setting for this story - a slow, even manner in tune with the dry, hot prairie weather where cloudless skies go on for miles and time has its own pace.
I loved this story and was sad when I reached the last page and knew that my visit with the residents of Juliet was over. This is a book I highly recommend!
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100 years previously merely sets the background for what is to follow. Told through a series of connected stories and divided into 8 parts, the book follows the lives of a handful of local residents over the course of one hot, dry ordinary 24 hour period - from midnight to midnight. The reader is invited to see inside the complicated lives of the characters of Warren's creation: the young farmer Lee Torgeson, raised as a foundling and now left to manage the farm on his own; the drive in theatre owner Willard Shoenfeld and his quiet sister-in-law Miriam; farmers Blaine and Vicki Dolson and their six children struggling to make ends meet with a farm buried in debt; bank manager Norval Birch and his wife Lila who are not seeing eye to eye on the planning of their pregnant daughter's wedding; and farmer Hank Trass, who's helpful neighborly ways cause his cafe owner wife Lynn to have bouts of jealousy.
Warren bounces from character to character at the start of the book with each new chapter introducing the reader to the group and then revisits the characters in a similar fashion over the course of the 24 hour period, allowing the reader to get inside the characters as they grapple with issues, indecision, worry and reflection. The characters are so richly crafted they leap off the pages of the book, almost as if they are shouting "Hey, look at me, I want to tell you something." Warren's prose and writing style is in keeping with the setting for this story - a slow, even manner in tune with the dry, hot prairie weather where cloudless skies go on for miles and time has its own pace.
I loved this story and was sad when I reached the last page and knew that my visit with the residents of Juliet was over. This is a book I highly recommend!
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LibraryThing member Twink
Often I will sit and peruse the cover of a book before opening it and starting to read, wondering what connection the cover has to the story inside. I love the feel of diners and those postcards promised a good story....
Cool Water takes place in tiny Juliet, Saskatchewan over the course of two
Lee was a foundling, taken in by the Torgesons. They've passed on and he's now alone on the farm they've left him, unsure of himself and his place in life. Blaine and Vicki Dolson have six children - and a truckload of debt. Local banker Norval Birch has always followed the rules, but begins to question what he's really accomplished in life. Willard and his brother's widow Marian have shared the same house for nine years. They are unable to identify and act on the fact that they love one another. Lynn questions her husband's faithfullness when she finds a woman's phone number in his pocket.
None of these scenarios are earth shattering, but that is the genius behind Cool Water. There's nothing special about the characters - they're just everyday people trying to do the best they can. We become privy to the happenings behind closed doors, the feelings, emotions and memories of the characters.
Dianne Warren's prose are simple, yet eloquent and aching. The inhabitants and the town of Juliet are so clearly drawn, I had very defined mental images of both. Warren has captured the feel of small town perfectly. Living near a town of the same size, I found myself walking down Main Street the other day, looking at those I met on the sidewalk just a little bit differently.
Tying many of these stories together was a horse, both present and from the past. The horse is prominent in Lee's journey as he unwittingly recreates a hundred mile ride from the past. Lee's story touched me the most of all the characters. I was surprised by the redemption of Norval's wife Lila. At first she came across as distinctly unlikeable, but as events unfolded I was caught off guard by her reaction. But Vicki was another character who I related to - the thought of cutting and blanching bushels of beans is daunting, yet I too do it year after year.
Warren was a Canadian author new to me, but one I encourage you to discover. An absolute five star read.
Cool Water takes place in tiny Juliet, Saskatchewan over the course of two
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days. In rotating chapters we follow the lives of a few of the inhabitants. Lee was a foundling, taken in by the Torgesons. They've passed on and he's now alone on the farm they've left him, unsure of himself and his place in life. Blaine and Vicki Dolson have six children - and a truckload of debt. Local banker Norval Birch has always followed the rules, but begins to question what he's really accomplished in life. Willard and his brother's widow Marian have shared the same house for nine years. They are unable to identify and act on the fact that they love one another. Lynn questions her husband's faithfullness when she finds a woman's phone number in his pocket.
None of these scenarios are earth shattering, but that is the genius behind Cool Water. There's nothing special about the characters - they're just everyday people trying to do the best they can. We become privy to the happenings behind closed doors, the feelings, emotions and memories of the characters.
Dianne Warren's prose are simple, yet eloquent and aching. The inhabitants and the town of Juliet are so clearly drawn, I had very defined mental images of both. Warren has captured the feel of small town perfectly. Living near a town of the same size, I found myself walking down Main Street the other day, looking at those I met on the sidewalk just a little bit differently.
Tying many of these stories together was a horse, both present and from the past. The horse is prominent in Lee's journey as he unwittingly recreates a hundred mile ride from the past. Lee's story touched me the most of all the characters. I was surprised by the redemption of Norval's wife Lila. At first she came across as distinctly unlikeable, but as events unfolded I was caught off guard by her reaction. But Vicki was another character who I related to - the thought of cutting and blanching bushels of beans is daunting, yet I too do it year after year.
Warren was a Canadian author new to me, but one I encourage you to discover. An absolute five star read.
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LibraryThing member writestuff
I love when a book surprises me; when I open the pages and fall into a story that swallows up time and takes me some place I have not been before; when I meet characters who touch my heart and teach me something about life. Cool Water is one of those books. Set in rural Saskatchewan, the novel
The novel opens with a one hundred mile horse race (which we later learn is part of the history of the town). We are then introduced to several characters as the story unfolds over the course of one day: Lee, a young man who is seeking to understand his biological roots after he inherits a family farm; Blaine and Vicki Dolson and their six children (including the teenage Shiloh) who are struggling financially; Willard Shoenfeld and his sister-in-law Marian who struggle to communicate their love for each other; Norval, the town’s banker, and his wife Lila and daughter Rachelle who is preparing to marry the father of her unborn baby; and Hank Trass, a retired rodeo cowboy, and his wife Lynn who is still trying to come to terms with Hank’s long ago infidelities.
Each of the characters is flawed and struggles with their own self worth, identity, or relationships with each other. United by the harsh and awesome landscape of the desert, they navigate the pitfalls of life and seek to realize their dreams. Often they are caught off guard by unexpected events, or find themselves detoured by misunderstandings. I was especially drawn to Willard and Marian, an odd couple who find themselves together after Willard’s brother (and Marian’s husband) Ed dies. Nine years have passed since Ed’s death, and Willard and Marian have lived under the same roof, moving forward in their lives side by side, yet apart. Their fumbled communications are poignant and compelling.
He goes back outside and gets in his truck and drives away from the yard. Toward town. The Oasis. He’ll go to the Oasis for supper. They’re used to him there. He can sit at a table and eat his meal and probably no one will talk to him, but if someone does, it will be about the weather, or grain prices, or football. And he won’t have to hear the words, I’m leaving, Willard. I though you’d better know… – from Cool Water, page 242 -
Warren’s writing is subtle, intuitive, and richly rendered. Her characters are real people and part of the tapestry of the setting. Warren understands how where we live reflects who we are – and she seamlessly weaves the landscape through the stories of her characters. She also brings in the connections between people and animals – something which resonated with my own experiences with the animals who have passed through my life. Blaine (a man who is struggling to keep food on the table for his family) finds his horse suffering from colic and must decide whether or not to spend the money on a vet or simply put the animal out of its misery – the decision is not just about whether or not the horse will be saved, but it is a reminder of where Blaine is in his life and the hope (or lack of it) for things to get better.
Blaine knows what he has to do. It’s not that he’s never had to put a horse down before, but this horse – the last one – now represents every ambition that he’s ever had and his last bit of hope, however unreasonable, that things might turn around. – from Cool Water, page 224 -
Cool Water is an exquisite novel of every day life which includes the disappointments, challenges, and small joys we all encounter. At times funny, but always sensitive, Cool Water is a book that tenderly explores the connections between people, and reminds us of the common threads of human experience which join us.
Highly recommended.
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brings to life several characters who are interconnected because they share the same small town. Warren is a renowned short story writer, and it is easy to see those roots in Cool Water. The novel has the feel of linked short stories. It reminded me of Elizabeth Strout’s wonderful novel Olive Kitteridge with one big difference: Strout’s book uses the minor characters to give depth to Olive, the protagonist; Warren, on the other hand, fully develops each character in alternating chapters in order to give life to the town of Juliet in which they live.The novel opens with a one hundred mile horse race (which we later learn is part of the history of the town). We are then introduced to several characters as the story unfolds over the course of one day: Lee, a young man who is seeking to understand his biological roots after he inherits a family farm; Blaine and Vicki Dolson and their six children (including the teenage Shiloh) who are struggling financially; Willard Shoenfeld and his sister-in-law Marian who struggle to communicate their love for each other; Norval, the town’s banker, and his wife Lila and daughter Rachelle who is preparing to marry the father of her unborn baby; and Hank Trass, a retired rodeo cowboy, and his wife Lynn who is still trying to come to terms with Hank’s long ago infidelities.
Each of the characters is flawed and struggles with their own self worth, identity, or relationships with each other. United by the harsh and awesome landscape of the desert, they navigate the pitfalls of life and seek to realize their dreams. Often they are caught off guard by unexpected events, or find themselves detoured by misunderstandings. I was especially drawn to Willard and Marian, an odd couple who find themselves together after Willard’s brother (and Marian’s husband) Ed dies. Nine years have passed since Ed’s death, and Willard and Marian have lived under the same roof, moving forward in their lives side by side, yet apart. Their fumbled communications are poignant and compelling.
He goes back outside and gets in his truck and drives away from the yard. Toward town. The Oasis. He’ll go to the Oasis for supper. They’re used to him there. He can sit at a table and eat his meal and probably no one will talk to him, but if someone does, it will be about the weather, or grain prices, or football. And he won’t have to hear the words, I’m leaving, Willard. I though you’d better know… – from Cool Water, page 242 -
Warren’s writing is subtle, intuitive, and richly rendered. Her characters are real people and part of the tapestry of the setting. Warren understands how where we live reflects who we are – and she seamlessly weaves the landscape through the stories of her characters. She also brings in the connections between people and animals – something which resonated with my own experiences with the animals who have passed through my life. Blaine (a man who is struggling to keep food on the table for his family) finds his horse suffering from colic and must decide whether or not to spend the money on a vet or simply put the animal out of its misery – the decision is not just about whether or not the horse will be saved, but it is a reminder of where Blaine is in his life and the hope (or lack of it) for things to get better.
Blaine knows what he has to do. It’s not that he’s never had to put a horse down before, but this horse – the last one – now represents every ambition that he’s ever had and his last bit of hope, however unreasonable, that things might turn around. – from Cool Water, page 224 -
Cool Water is an exquisite novel of every day life which includes the disappointments, challenges, and small joys we all encounter. At times funny, but always sensitive, Cool Water is a book that tenderly explores the connections between people, and reminds us of the common threads of human experience which join us.
Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member msbaba
Juliet in August, by Dianne Warren, is the U.S. debut of an award-winning work of literary fiction. First published in Canada in 2010 under the title Cool Water, this work won the prestigious Canadian Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction.
It is more a collection of linked stories than a
Juliet, population 1,011, is an unremarkable town. This is home to small time ranchers, farmers, and horsemen. But under the skillful literary craftsmanship of Dianne Warren, we find it populated by remarkable characters with compelling interior lives. It is these characters, with their intricate multifaceted three-dimensional lives that make this work unique and worthy of literary attention.
As the hours play out over the course of a single day, each chapter is devoted to a specific character or family. This repeats until the day is done and the book is concluded. It is a simple straightforward structure…but somehow it never becomes tiresome. It is a book rife with eloquent unornamented moment-by-moment details. It has an exquisite and unforgettable sense of place! But the jewel at the core of this work is bearing constant witness to the interior lives of its characters.
The characters in these differing families casually interact. This gives the work its cohesion. But these everyday interactions do not drive any kind of linear plot forward as it would in a traditional novel. This is a small town; everybody knows one another and everyone else’s business. What interactions exist among characters are more the result of everyday life unfolding naturally
To read this work is to live life within these characters and, for a brief time, to let them become part of us.
If there is one major storytelling arc over the entire work it is this: over this one 24-hour period, each character and family deals with a crisis—some are major crises, others are rather small in the whole scheme of life—but each takes the reader one step further along the path toward understanding what it means to be human.
Juliet in August is a subtle book of enormous emotional power and impact. It is nothing more than everyday life in all its baffling and magnificent richness. To read it is to take a journey into the heart of the human condition.
It is more a collection of linked stories than a
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traditional novel. Set in the present day, the work takes us through one 24-hour period in the everyday lives of a handful of characters and families living in the fictional town of Juliet, near the Great Sandhills of Canada’s western prairie. Juliet, population 1,011, is an unremarkable town. This is home to small time ranchers, farmers, and horsemen. But under the skillful literary craftsmanship of Dianne Warren, we find it populated by remarkable characters with compelling interior lives. It is these characters, with their intricate multifaceted three-dimensional lives that make this work unique and worthy of literary attention.
As the hours play out over the course of a single day, each chapter is devoted to a specific character or family. This repeats until the day is done and the book is concluded. It is a simple straightforward structure…but somehow it never becomes tiresome. It is a book rife with eloquent unornamented moment-by-moment details. It has an exquisite and unforgettable sense of place! But the jewel at the core of this work is bearing constant witness to the interior lives of its characters.
The characters in these differing families casually interact. This gives the work its cohesion. But these everyday interactions do not drive any kind of linear plot forward as it would in a traditional novel. This is a small town; everybody knows one another and everyone else’s business. What interactions exist among characters are more the result of everyday life unfolding naturally
To read this work is to live life within these characters and, for a brief time, to let them become part of us.
If there is one major storytelling arc over the entire work it is this: over this one 24-hour period, each character and family deals with a crisis—some are major crises, others are rather small in the whole scheme of life—but each takes the reader one step further along the path toward understanding what it means to be human.
Juliet in August is a subtle book of enormous emotional power and impact. It is nothing more than everyday life in all its baffling and magnificent richness. To read it is to take a journey into the heart of the human condition.
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LibraryThing member LynnB
Juliet, Saskatchwan, is a typical prairie town. This novel is the stories of several residents of the town, who are connected in various ways, but mainly by the geography they share. The writing is absolutely excellent and every one of the several characters were well drawn with depth and
Lee is a foundling, recently orphaned by his adoptive parents; Willard and Marian have shared the same house since Ed (his brother, her husband) died and unable to communicate their growing love for each other, bank manager Norvil Birch has a style-conscious wife and a pregnant daughter about to compound her problems by marrying the baby-to-be's father; Blaine and Vicki struggle with debt and raising six children under 13 years of age. Everyone had a story...a good story. This is life in the prairies, as I knew it growing up. Extremely well done.
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believability. Lee is a foundling, recently orphaned by his adoptive parents; Willard and Marian have shared the same house since Ed (his brother, her husband) died and unable to communicate their growing love for each other, bank manager Norvil Birch has a style-conscious wife and a pregnant daughter about to compound her problems by marrying the baby-to-be's father; Blaine and Vicki struggle with debt and raising six children under 13 years of age. Everyone had a story...a good story. This is life in the prairies, as I knew it growing up. Extremely well done.
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LibraryThing member tloeffler
Juliet, Saskatchewan is one of those small towns where "nothing ever happens." But, like other small towns, scratch the surface, and you find a hotbed of activity. Dianne Warren tells the story of one day in the life of this town, and in that one day, we learn the history of the featured
The book starts slowly, and the beginning stories are so quick and the transitions between them so abrupt, that I had some difficulty keeping the characters straight. About halfway through the book, the characters began to gel, and the stories became more interesting, and by the end of the book I had a strong interest in the characters and what was happening to them. It just took a while to get there. I didn't get a strong sense of place from the book; it could have taken place in any small town in the United States as well as Canada, and if I hadn't read the back of the book telling me it was in Canada, I wouldn't have known it from the reading.
Overall, a good read!
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inhabitants. There is Lee Torgeson, a young farmer living alone, wondering about his origins; Norval Birch, the banker, feeling guilty for doing the things his job requires, and his wife Lila, planning the perfect wedding for their pregnant and ungrateful daughter; Willard Schoenfeld, owner of the drive-in theater, sharing a home with his late brother's wife Marian, and a host of other characters, trying to make their way in this small microcosm of the world.The book starts slowly, and the beginning stories are so quick and the transitions between them so abrupt, that I had some difficulty keeping the characters straight. About halfway through the book, the characters began to gel, and the stories became more interesting, and by the end of the book I had a strong interest in the characters and what was happening to them. It just took a while to get there. I didn't get a strong sense of place from the book; it could have taken place in any small town in the United States as well as Canada, and if I hadn't read the back of the book telling me it was in Canada, I wouldn't have known it from the reading.
Overall, a good read!
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LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV
This should be my kind of book - character-driven, quiet, thoughtful... but though I tried, to 1/6 of the way, I just couldn't get into it. The most interesting character is the horse, and it's not talking.
LibraryThing member jlouise77
I really enjoyed this book. It had a strange mix of current day and old west that was something new to me. I suppose that there are still rural parts of the country that are much like this town, but it never really occurred to me. I liked the characters and really enjoyed all the different stories
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of the different towns people. I could have read another hundred or more pages about them! Show Less
LibraryThing member icolford
This first novel by playwright and short story writer Warren was long-listed for the 2010 Giller Prize and won the 2010 Governor General's Award for fiction. It is fully deserving of such recognition. Set in the small prairie town of Juliet, Saskatchewan, it chronicles the events of a period hardly
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more than 24 hours in the lives of a dozen or so characters. Maybe nothing much happens in Juliet. And yet choices are made, words are spoken, ideas are hatched, scores are settled, and these actions resonate through the lives of the people who live there and ripple throughout the town, becoming part of its history. Neatly sidestepping sentimentality, Warren strips away each character's public face and reveals the interior life, allowing us to assess these deeply flawed but generally good-hearted people as they strive for dignity and struggle to survive. This is a quietly remarkable novel and a significant achievement. Show Less
LibraryThing member karynwhite
I found this book slow-going at the start. Initially it feels short story-like and I don't like short stories. I don't like the disconnectedness of them. However, I persevered and really enjoyed this book once I got a quarter of the way into it.
I enjoyed each character's story. They are just slow,
I really enjoyed this novel and recommend it if you like thought-provoking, slice of life stories about believable characters. I didn't want it to end - I wanted to know what happened to the characters next.
I enjoyed each character's story. They are just slow,
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every day, slice of life situations. The novel has a very community feel to it. I really enjoyed this novel and recommend it if you like thought-provoking, slice of life stories about believable characters. I didn't want it to end - I wanted to know what happened to the characters next.
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LibraryThing member Romonko
This book is mesmerizing. At first glance it seems so simple, but as you get further in, you realize how complex these characters are. And yes, this book is about the characters. The time frame for the book is about 24 hours, and it takes place in a sleepy little town called Juliet which is smack
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dab in the middle of the Little Snake sandhills. This area is close to Swift Current, Saskatchewan, and it is where I was born and grew up. I loved the walk down memory lane with the area in southern Saskatchewan that I know so well. But I truly loved the study in human nature that I found between the covers. In a deceptively simple language and beautifully descriptive prose, Ms. Warren explores human nature in a truly unique way, by a number of seemingly unattached characters, we get to see what human nature is really like. There are about 10 or 12 characters in this book that are going about their daily business. We have a recently bereaveed young man who has lost the two main people in his life. We have him coming to terms with his life which began as a foundling in a laundry basket on a porch. He discovers himself as he rides a horse for 100 miles in this one day, through the sandhills. We have a young mother who is just trying to keep her large family together while all that they hold dear is at risk of disappearing because of unpaid debts. Vicki is a scatter-brained, but sweet woman who is trying to remain positive for her family in the midst of the chaos. Then we have a frustrated bank manager who has such a strange day while trying to arrange things in his life and his daughter's who is pregnant at 18 and planning to marry the feckless teenager who got her in the position she is in. Unfortuantely, his day does not end well at all, but it does cause his shallow wife to reexamine her life and goals. I could go on, but I'd have to go on for as long as this book. I just recommend that you read it, It is truly a marvel and a worthy winner of the Governor General's fiction award. Show Less
LibraryThing member gypsysmom
Journal Entry 2 by winggypsysmomwing at Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada on 10 March 2011
It's a hot dry summer in Juliet Saskatchewan, a small town near the TransCanada Highway. And nothing ever happens in Juliet, right? Wrong! Cool Water is about just one day and there is plenty going on. Lee Torgesen
I grew up just outside a small town on the prairies and I recognized these people. I also remember those long hot dry summers when time seemed to drag and nothing was happening. Dianne Warren has captured the essence of small towns and rural areas on the prairies. Truly deserving of the GG.
It's a hot dry summer in Juliet Saskatchewan, a small town near the TransCanada Highway. And nothing ever happens in Juliet, right? Wrong! Cool Water is about just one day and there is plenty going on. Lee Torgesen
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looks out his window to find a beautiful Arabian horse in his farmyard. Willard Shoenfeld thinks his brother's widow is getting ready to leave but he couldn't be farther from the truth. Blaine and Vicki Dolson are fighting hard to keep the family farm. Hank Trass lets a note fall out of his pocket with a woman's phone number on it and his wife is sure that he is cheating on her. The town banker, Norval Birch, is worried that his daughter's upcoming marriage is headed for disaster.I grew up just outside a small town on the prairies and I recognized these people. I also remember those long hot dry summers when time seemed to drag and nothing was happening. Dianne Warren has captured the essence of small towns and rural areas on the prairies. Truly deserving of the GG.
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LibraryThing member janismack
This book was ok. I like canadiana so I thought I'd give it a go. Not too memorable.
LibraryThing member Dawn1361
"He closes his eyes, but it's no use. He can't stop the sand from passing. The same sand, he keeps thinking, that was there when the Perry cowboys road the hundred miles, just blown around and rearranged...." Dianne Warren's work, "Juliet in August" delivers as promised - a glimpse of a small town
I received this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers program and highly recommend it.
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in Saskatchewan. The ordinary is present, but Warren's fantastic development of rich characters elevate the ordinary and draws the reader to embrace and care about these residents. The thread of the desert sand is a perfect framework for watching the residents grow through challenges and hold onto the promise of adapting to the turns of life. As the book closes with Lee camping in the midst of the dunes, Warren's summation of Lee's thoughts ring true..."The wind blows until dawn, releasing the past, howling at the boundaries of the present. The land forever changing shape. To the east, the pale pink of early morning." I received this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers program and highly recommend it.
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LibraryThing member KatyBee
This novel was originally published in Canada as "Cool Water" and that is also a good title. It is a refreshing read, honest and wry with lovely realistic portraits of the people living in and around a small Canadian town.
Along with the folks in this story are many wonderful descriptions of pets
But the individuals will be what you remember and it is as if they were real people you have known. Warren tells their stories and they go just as real life does... small sweet moments of joy along with aching bruises and despairs and desperate internal lives. Her writing is reminiscent of A. Munro or R. Russo or E. Strout or others who capture our everyday existences so well.
After starting this book, I ended up getting the connections between the many characters confused, so I started the book over and made a quick chart of their names and families as they appeared in the story. This helps quite a lot if your own life is busy and you can't read it straight through :)
Along with the folks in this story are many wonderful descriptions of pets
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and animals, both wild and domestic - horses, dogs, owls, coyotes, a rooster, and even a camel are included throughout the novel. The countryside is also is an integral part of her novel with beautiful descriptions of the surrounding sand dunes.But the individuals will be what you remember and it is as if they were real people you have known. Warren tells their stories and they go just as real life does... small sweet moments of joy along with aching bruises and despairs and desperate internal lives. Her writing is reminiscent of A. Munro or R. Russo or E. Strout or others who capture our everyday existences so well.
After starting this book, I ended up getting the connections between the many characters confused, so I started the book over and made a quick chart of their names and families as they appeared in the story. This helps quite a lot if your own life is busy and you can't read it straight through :)
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LibraryThing member samfsmith
An excellent novel, one of the best I have read this year. It’s not a traditional novel with a strong central character, and not a set of short stories, but something in-between. It’s a set of loosely connected characters, all sharing the same small-town setting. Whatever it is, it works
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extremely well. The characters are interesting and engaging, their problems are real and easy to relate to, the setting is alive, and there is just enough plot to move each character along. Even the ending is satisfying. Well done and highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member juniperSun
This is a book I didn't want to put down, yet I also didn't want the story to end so I managed to set it aside for a couple of hours before reading the last chapter. The ending was fully as satisfying as the tale--not a fairy tale "happily ever after", but a sense that the characters have done some
Warren gives a sympathetic rendering of rural life, interweaving the tales of several characters as separate sections in each chapter. (section? chapter? I'm not quite sure how to name the divisions of this book) It's hard to believe the action takes place over just one day--the back story is so skillfully threaded into the characters' thoughts and interactions. Although each person has their own drama, they meet or pass each other by or think about the others throughout the day.
In a separate post I had commented that I'd much prefer to read about characters who are ordinary people than about actresses and sports stars wives, and was cynically told that doesn't sell. I think this is a book that can prove my cynic wrong.
Without giving away too much of the plot, I want to mention the main characters. Lee, a foundling who is left with the farm as a young adult when his foster parents die. Vicki, a caring mother of 6, who manages by keeping an upbeat outlook and Blaine, who feels at the end of his rope because of debt. Willard, an old bachelor who runs the local drive-in and is tongue-tied when it comes to saying just about anything. Norval, a bank manager who feels badly about the economic difficulties his customers are having and a husband & father trying to cope with his wife's plans for the wedding of their pregnant daughter. These are people who care, who want to act kindly, but at times may be overwhelmed by their own problems.
The book opens with a tale from perhaps 100 years earlier. Altho it may seem disconnected at first, even this tale is tied in as we observe Lee's mysterious journey.
Received as an Early Reviewers book.
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growing and will deal with the challenges life brings them in one fashion or another.Warren gives a sympathetic rendering of rural life, interweaving the tales of several characters as separate sections in each chapter. (section? chapter? I'm not quite sure how to name the divisions of this book) It's hard to believe the action takes place over just one day--the back story is so skillfully threaded into the characters' thoughts and interactions. Although each person has their own drama, they meet or pass each other by or think about the others throughout the day.
In a separate post I had commented that I'd much prefer to read about characters who are ordinary people than about actresses and sports stars wives, and was cynically told that doesn't sell. I think this is a book that can prove my cynic wrong.
Without giving away too much of the plot, I want to mention the main characters. Lee, a foundling who is left with the farm as a young adult when his foster parents die. Vicki, a caring mother of 6, who manages by keeping an upbeat outlook and Blaine, who feels at the end of his rope because of debt. Willard, an old bachelor who runs the local drive-in and is tongue-tied when it comes to saying just about anything. Norval, a bank manager who feels badly about the economic difficulties his customers are having and a husband & father trying to cope with his wife's plans for the wedding of their pregnant daughter. These are people who care, who want to act kindly, but at times may be overwhelmed by their own problems.
The book opens with a tale from perhaps 100 years earlier. Altho it may seem disconnected at first, even this tale is tied in as we observe Lee's mysterious journey.
Received as an Early Reviewers book.
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LibraryThing member JGoto
At first Juliet in August reads like a series of short stories revolving around the inhabitants of a small, rural community in Saskatchewan. These stories are not overly dramatic, but rather a gentle picture of families and individuals in the town of Juliet. There's young Lee Torgeson, whose
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adoptive parents have recently died, Lynn Trass, who believes her husband is unfaithful, Norval and Lila, planning the wedding of their pregnant teenage daughter, the Dolsons, barely making ends meet, and Willard and Marian, two middle-aged people afraid to reveal their feelings to each other. The stories overlap and come together in a peaceful flow, as the characters brush by one another in the course of their day. Juliet in August has lovely prose and I was sorry to put it down when it ended. Show Less
LibraryThing member Cecilturtle
It's not often one picks up a book on a whim and comes out absolutely mesmerized. Yet, this is exactly what this book did for me: the incredible ability for Warren to pinpoint the details that make the characters come alive, the weaving of characters in and out of the book which gives it a
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movie-like quality it's so well staged, the poetry of the exotic and heroic in the most banal places - I was positively drawn by all the characters, their questions, their silences, their hopes. The pace is slow and can make the beginning a bit tough to master, but once the reader is drawn into the story, there is no pulling out. Show Less
LibraryThing member Bellettres
This is a beautifully written series of vignettes focusing on the lives of about a dozen residents of Juliet, Saskatchewan. The characters are finely and deeply drawn, from Lee, whose adoptive parents have died and whose farm he now runs; to Norval, the bank manager who does his job, but with
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serious misgivings about the people whose homes and lives are threatened by financial problems; to Vicki and Blaine, parents of six children and not particularly adult themselves; to Willard and his sister-in-law Marian, who has stayed on with Willard for the nine years since her husband Ed died, although both she and Willard are too shy to admit that they love each other. The stories begin in the late afternoon of a hot August day, and continue through that night, the following day, and almost until dawn of the next day. There are stories about living and dying, about secrets kept and revealed, about coming of age, about marriage and love, about old age and youthful shenanigans. Always, there is the landscape that is part of all these lives, and the understanding that natural cycles will continue to hum along, no matter what. It is simply one of the best books I have read in ages. Show Less
LibraryThing member erinclark
This is a exceptional book and I would not be surprised to see it winning some kind of award in the near future. Juliet is a blink as miss town in the prairie desert of Saskatuan. You wouldn't think that so much could be going on in such a podunk little town in the middle of no where, but feelings
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run deep in Juliet and you are in for a treat when you get to meet some of it's inhabitants. The characters are all flawed in some way - just like in real life - and sweetly loveable despite their shortcomings. The author respects their innocence and even their foolishness. Even the folks we don't get to know so well are clearly drawn and I can still see them in my minds eye. The flow is so gentle and the author treats her characters with such love and care I could barely put it down. Every story weaves together seamlessly and the author brilliantly wraps up the many lose ends towards the end. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Five stars and excellent in every way. Show Less
LibraryThing member mel927
I received this book as an Advanced Reading Copy from LibraryThing.com. It is an interesting peak into the lives of people living in Juliet, Saskatchewan. The cast of characters includes: a young man left to farm by himself after the death of his adoptive parents; the bank manager whose wife is
We are entertained with wonderful details of these people’s lives. I really enjoyed the book; however I am only giving three stars because the beginning was very hard to follow as it skips stories too fast. By the middle of the book, once you are well acquainted with the characters, it becomes much more interesting.
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nagging him about his pregnant teenage daughter’s wedding to the town ne’er-do-well; a family with several children struggling to make ends meet; and a man left living with his brother’s widow and the drive-in theater they run together.We are entertained with wonderful details of these people’s lives. I really enjoyed the book; however I am only giving three stars because the beginning was very hard to follow as it skips stories too fast. By the middle of the book, once you are well acquainted with the characters, it becomes much more interesting.
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LibraryThing member TheLostEntwife
Juliet in August is one of the most understated, beautifully written books I've read in 2012. Dianne Warren has created a book that, with the subtlety and grace of a racing horse, has completely taken over my imagination and whisked me away to a little town in Canada named Juliet.
Juliet in August
I am pretty sure, even more so as I sit here writing this review, that Dianne Warren is kind of a genius. She packed so much material in short segments, making them seem as if the pages were flying by but time was slowing in the process. And the entire time, I felt as if I was reading a beautifully written, literary western novel and that each person I was connecting to was someone who could easily be linked to a friend in my own life.
Juliet in August surprised and delighted me and easily fits in with my top five books of the year. Don't be fooled by its simple cover and name - this book is one of the most complex and interesting you will pick up this year as well, I promise.
Juliet in August
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begins with a horse race - a story which is the foundation of the short tales that follow it. In a way, this book is a mixture of a bunch of short stories, strung together in such a pitch-perfect way that they do not begin to mix until I became completely embroiled in the lives of each and every one of the characters. My heart ached for the Dalton's, I explored life with Lee and mourned his adopted parents with him as well. The time I spent reading I felt as if I was visiting newly acquired friends and I loved every single minute.I am pretty sure, even more so as I sit here writing this review, that Dianne Warren is kind of a genius. She packed so much material in short segments, making them seem as if the pages were flying by but time was slowing in the process. And the entire time, I felt as if I was reading a beautifully written, literary western novel and that each person I was connecting to was someone who could easily be linked to a friend in my own life.
Juliet in August surprised and delighted me and easily fits in with my top five books of the year. Don't be fooled by its simple cover and name - this book is one of the most complex and interesting you will pick up this year as well, I promise.
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LibraryThing member snash
A well written portrayal of a number of families on a particular day in a small farming community in Saskatchewan. All of the people are struggling with one problem or another and their lives intertwine. The characters captured my empathy and affection to the point that there were times I didn't
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want to read the book because one of their behaviors was angering me so. A very good book with a touching portrait of the struggles of everyday life. Show Less
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — 2013)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2010
Physical description
384 p.; 5.14 inches
ISBN
9780425261002