Irma Voth

Miriam Toews is a master storyteller at the height of her powers, who manages with trademark wry wit and a fierce tenderness to be at once heartbreaking and laugh-out-loud funny in Irma Voth. Banished to a neighbouring farm for the sin of marrying a non-Mennonite Mexican, Irma Voth lives apart from the other Mennonites in her colony. Her new husband soon abandons her, and her only reprieve from isolation comes from the occasional secret visits of her younger sister Aggie and the little gifts sent by her mother. But change comes when a film crew from Mexico City moves into the empty house next to Irma's to make a film about Mennonites. Irma is hired on as translator and cook, and her involvement with the bohemian film crew sets her on a path that will push her into dangerous conflict with her strict, religious father, and out into the unfamiliar, exotic world of the big city. Brimming with Toews's dazzling wit, Irma Voth tells the story of a young woman's turbulent journey towards self-discovery. It's a book that will grab you from the first page, and won't let go even after the last. The girls flee to the capital, Mexico City, not knowing where they’ll find food or shelter, let alone build a life, but knowing for the first time that they are free to make that choice. And even as they begin to understand the truth of the tragedy that has their family in its grip, Irma and Aggie use their love as a source of strength to help each other move on from their past lives and work toward a future that can truly become anything they want it to be.