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Fiction Erotica

An Honest Woman

by (author) JoAnn McCaig

Publisher
Thistledown Press
Initial publish date
Sep 2019
Category
Erotica, Contemporary Women
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781771871785
    Publish Date
    Sep 2019
    List Price
    $20.00

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Description

P dir=ltr align=justify>If there ever was a time and place to explore the territory of mature women and their journeys this would be the time. The subjects of sex, passion, confidence in JoAnn McCaig’s An Honest Woman are beautifully played out against society’s stereotypes of women as they age and as they confront the truths of themselves outside the societal frameworks in which they have been boxed. P dir=ltr align=justify>There are metafictional elements turned loose in this novel. First, there is an intensely self-conscious narrator and second, there are characters who live inside fictional worlds and travel outside those worlds for intense real-life encounters. Their storytelling draws attention to themselves as both living, breathing people but also fleshed-out fictional world characters. P dir=ltr align=justify>The structure of the novel is complex, layered, and interwoven. There are several narrators, stories within stories, and writers making things up and fantasizing while living real (albeit fictional) lives. There are literary allusions galore and cameo appearances by thinly disguised famous authors. It can all get a little crazy, so McCaig has provided a few support materials: an infographic that maps out the different characters, and relationships and authorships, a fairly detailed table of contents, a few postscripts, and a couple of appendices. Watch for symbols that indicate that the narrator has lapsed into fantasy and for when she returns to her "real" life, such as it is. That said, An Honest Woman has enough grounded familiar plot lines to keep a general reader interested and layered ambiguities to keep the well-read interested. While there is some undermining of traditional literary conventions, there is nothing lost in McCaig’s exploration of the relationship between literature and life. The novel is humorous, and sometimes really funny; it is also a smart and warm and moving read.

About the author

JoAnn McCaig has taught English at the University of Calgary for several years and is the recipient of a 2000/2002 SSHRC postdoctoral fellowship for further research on the literary archives of Canadian authors.

JoAnn McCaig's profile page

Awards

  • Deborah Hecht Memorial Prize in Fiction
  • Winner, W O Mitchell City of Calgary Book Prize
  • Short-listed, Georges Bugnet Award

Excerpt: An Honest Woman (by (author) JoAnn McCaig)

“That night she dreamt that familiar dream. The one about pulling up to a house in the country. A sweeping double staircase, a dog barking, someone awaiting her up on the landing, the high porch. Like always, the dream ended before she found out what was behind the door at the top of the stairs.”

 

“This is her story, JM’s story. This is what happened when a final not flicker but conflagration of desire engulfed her, as the last hormones flared and fled. Fiery desire to love and make love and write and rise and triumph and and and — ”

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