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The Age
Following the international success of the edgy and critically-acclaimed, Dead Girls, Nancy Lee’s highly-charged debut novel, The Age is an ambitious and poignant exploration of the collapse of family, the price of friendship, and the human struggle to find meaning in life and death. A coming of age novel for today, The Age will appeal to readers of Annabel Lyon, Lisa Moore, Heather O'Neill.
Set in Vancouver in 1984, as Soviet warships swarm the North Atlantic, The Age follows Gerry, a troubled teenager confronted with her single mom’s newest relationship. When she takes solace in a ragtag group of activists planning a subversive protest at the city’s upcoming peach march, her fascination with the group’s leader, and her struggle with sexual identity creates a rift between Gerry and her best friend, Ian. Bolstered by her grandfather, an eccentric ex-news anchor in the throes of a bitter divorce, Gerry tries to put herself at the centre of the protest group’s violent plot. When the demands of these complex relationship become too difficult, Gerry escapes to the role she knows best, survivor in a post-nuclear dystopia of her own creation. Gerry’s real life and fantasy life alternate and accelerate until a collision of events and consequences forces her towards life or death decisions in both worlds.
Electric and engaging, with piercing observation, subversive wit, and the same fearlessness that caused a sensation amongst critics and fans of Dead Girls, The Age is at once a startling post-apocalyptic drama, a harrowing journey through adolescent recklessness and desire, and a dark portrait of a generation molded by nuclear anxiety. Its arrival confirms Nancy Lee as one of Canadian Literature’s most thrilling and compelling voices.
Set in Vancouver in 1984, as Soviet warships swarm the North Atlantic, The Age follows Gerry, a troubled teenager confronted with her single mom’s newest relationship. When she takes solace in a ragtag group of activists planning a subversive protest at the city’s upcoming peach march, her fascination with the group’s leader, and her struggle with sexual identity creates a rift between Gerry and her best friend, Ian. Bolstered by her grandfather, an eccentric ex-news anchor in the throes of a bitter divorce, Gerry tries to put herself at the centre of the protest group’s violent plot. When the demands of these complex relationship become too difficult, Gerry escapes to the role she knows best, survivor in a post-nuclear dystopia of her own creation. Gerry’s real life and fantasy life alternate and accelerate until a collision of events and consequences forces her towards life or death decisions in both worlds.
Electric and engaging, with piercing observation, subversive wit, and the same fearlessness that caused a sensation amongst critics and fans of Dead Girls, The Age is at once a startling post-apocalyptic drama, a harrowing journey through adolescent recklessness and desire, and a dark portrait of a generation molded by nuclear anxiety. Its arrival confirms Nancy Lee as one of Canadian Literature’s most thrilling and compelling voices.
288 pages, Paperback
First published March 11, 2014
5 people are currently reading
416 people want to read
About the author
Nancy Lee
3 books45 followersHailed by Globe and Mail as “a masterwork of revelation,” Nancy Lee’s collection of short stories, Dead Girls, (McClelland & Stewart 2002) was named a best book of 2002 by the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and Vancouver Sun, and Book of the Year by NOW Magazine. Winner of the 2003 VanCity Book Prize, Dead Girls has been published in the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Holland and Spain.
Nancy Lee is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Gabriel Award for Radio and a National Magazine Award. An Adjunct Professor in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia, Nancy was selected as the first Canadian Writer-in-Residence at the prestigious University of East Anglia Writing Program in the UK. She most recently served as Writer-in-Residence for the city of Vincennes, France in 2011. Her novel, The Age, will be published by McClelland & Stewart in 2013.
She lives in Richmond, BC with her husband, the author, John Vigna.
Nancy Lee is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Gabriel Award for Radio and a National Magazine Award. An Adjunct Professor in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia, Nancy was selected as the first Canadian Writer-in-Residence at the prestigious University of East Anglia Writing Program in the UK. She most recently served as Writer-in-Residence for the city of Vincennes, France in 2011. Her novel, The Age, will be published by McClelland & Stewart in 2013.
She lives in Richmond, BC with her husband, the author, John Vigna.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
June 9, 2019
Vibed with the 80s feel, didn't mind the crafting of poor, deeply annoying Gerry, but overall this wasn't much more than run of the mill. The interspersed fantasy narrative didn't work because the connection was tenuous at best (like...to what end?), and it meant the actual narrative kept getting interrupted. And, as it was more character drama than narrative in the first place, the point (aside from a flashing neon sign pointing to DADDY ISSUES) kept getting lost. Ultimately: meh.
May 5, 2014
This review and others can be found on Cozy Up With A Good Read
This was an intriguing book for me, but I had some issues at times getting through it and understanding exactly what was happening. Gerry is someone who is growing up too quickly for her own good, the people she spends her time with change her view and really bring her into an adult view of things. She is someone who is struggling with her own personality and is easily swayed by those around her. Her best friend, Ian struggles to help Gerry through her issues.
I did really enjoy following Gerry's path to finding herself among a group of people who are older and often treat her as a kid. What sometimes confused me was the other storyline throughout the story, it is about a boy surviving in a post-apocalyptic world, learning how to get by and take care of himself and sometimes others in this scary time. This story would come up at different times and it would just switch to this perspective, confusing me as a reader at times to where I was in the story.
I did really enjoy Gerry's character, despite her trying to find herself, she has spunk. She knows how to fight back, sometimes you can see how young she is with her attitude towards things, and other times you can see how she is trying to grow up too fast. She has issues with her mother, who you can see is trying hard to be a good parent knowing how hard it is to do it on her own.
Gerry's father is not around so the male characters in her life add to the story, her best friend Ian is someone that you are not sure if she is in love with or aspires to be like. Then there is her grandfather, who through her is getting a second chance at being around for a child's life, but the way he spends time with Gerry makes you wonder if there is crazy in all parts of her life.
Honestly, as confusing as this story was at times, I enjoyed the coming of age story during such a difficult period of time in history. I did like the characters that were written, they added a lot to the story, and I think each person Gerry comes into contact with really affects her life and personality in such a huge way. I think Nancy Lee has written a great story, yes it is a little confusing at times, but it's about a girl finding herself while so much is happening around her.
This was an intriguing book for me, but I had some issues at times getting through it and understanding exactly what was happening. Gerry is someone who is growing up too quickly for her own good, the people she spends her time with change her view and really bring her into an adult view of things. She is someone who is struggling with her own personality and is easily swayed by those around her. Her best friend, Ian struggles to help Gerry through her issues.
I did really enjoy following Gerry's path to finding herself among a group of people who are older and often treat her as a kid. What sometimes confused me was the other storyline throughout the story, it is about a boy surviving in a post-apocalyptic world, learning how to get by and take care of himself and sometimes others in this scary time. This story would come up at different times and it would just switch to this perspective, confusing me as a reader at times to where I was in the story.
I did really enjoy Gerry's character, despite her trying to find herself, she has spunk. She knows how to fight back, sometimes you can see how young she is with her attitude towards things, and other times you can see how she is trying to grow up too fast. She has issues with her mother, who you can see is trying hard to be a good parent knowing how hard it is to do it on her own.
Gerry's father is not around so the male characters in her life add to the story, her best friend Ian is someone that you are not sure if she is in love with or aspires to be like. Then there is her grandfather, who through her is getting a second chance at being around for a child's life, but the way he spends time with Gerry makes you wonder if there is crazy in all parts of her life.
Honestly, as confusing as this story was at times, I enjoyed the coming of age story during such a difficult period of time in history. I did like the characters that were written, they added a lot to the story, and I think each person Gerry comes into contact with really affects her life and personality in such a huge way. I think Nancy Lee has written a great story, yes it is a little confusing at times, but it's about a girl finding herself while so much is happening around her.
March 2, 2014
Thought-provoking and disturbing, I enjoyed this and finished it in just a couple of days. A big part of that momentum came from my identification with the main character, who was a teen in the eighties and frightened of a looming nuclear winter. I was these things, too, though the narrator is a bit older than I was. I came away from the book feeling gutted by the harrowing climax, which takes place at a no-nukes demonstration in Vancouver, and mostly pleased with the lack of resolution. (There's a bit of treacly awww-shucks that I could have done without.)
Also notable: the story-within-a-story, in which the narrator pictures herself as a boy in a post-apocalyptic world. The boy rises to the demands of his new life, going on raiding missions with the men of his adopted colony and falling in love with a barely characterized girl. I looked forward to these sections interspersed through the book and liked the way they wrapped up.
Nancy Lee is a good writer and the book is well-plotted. If you enjoyed Dead Girls, I think you'll like this a lot.
Also notable: the story-within-a-story, in which the narrator pictures herself as a boy in a post-apocalyptic world. The boy rises to the demands of his new life, going on raiding missions with the men of his adopted colony and falling in love with a barely characterized girl. I looked forward to these sections interspersed through the book and liked the way they wrapped up.
Nancy Lee is a good writer and the book is well-plotted. If you enjoyed Dead Girls, I think you'll like this a lot.
March 10, 2014
I received this book from Goodreads.
The Age is a gritty book about the confusing life of Gerry, a teenager in 1980's Vancouver. The threat of nuclear bombs hangs over her head as she deals with her sexuality, divorce, searching for her father and peace marches.
Within the book is also the story of the boy and the girl - nuclear war survivors trying to stay alive in a violent dead world.
Nancy Lee captures the role of a tough street kid in Gerry, but also shows us other facets of Gerry's personality through her friends. Sexy Megan, motherly Michelle, intelligent and confident Andri, confused and vacant Clem, and rebellious but dependable Ian.
When Gerry gets in over her head with her friends and becomes confused about the role of men in her life, she turns to drugs and to her mother, but mostly she turns into herself.
This book is a great read with a climactic ending.
The Age is a gritty book about the confusing life of Gerry, a teenager in 1980's Vancouver. The threat of nuclear bombs hangs over her head as she deals with her sexuality, divorce, searching for her father and peace marches.
Within the book is also the story of the boy and the girl - nuclear war survivors trying to stay alive in a violent dead world.
Nancy Lee captures the role of a tough street kid in Gerry, but also shows us other facets of Gerry's personality through her friends. Sexy Megan, motherly Michelle, intelligent and confident Andri, confused and vacant Clem, and rebellious but dependable Ian.
When Gerry gets in over her head with her friends and becomes confused about the role of men in her life, she turns to drugs and to her mother, but mostly she turns into herself.
This book is a great read with a climactic ending.
December 2, 2014
When I was in the Age mentioned in the novel, Vancouver was a playground not yet shared with the rest of the world, and Nancy Lee does a good job presenting the old (yet barely 100-year old city) in all it grimy details. It was tough to actually picture the story taking place in the city Vancouver had become, but to backcast from the here and now to then, plus an outlying possibility of nuclear fall-out, seems to make sense as the story centres on a tomboyish girl and the establishment of Peace Cove. Even Lee's description of the Peace March fracturing into a mob rule is a sideshadow for the imagined space that somehow become the most expensively unaffordable place on the planet.
September 4, 2014
I wish I could say I was as excited reading this book as I was about winning it through Goodreads Giveaways.
I just couldn't get into this story. Put it down 3 times... and only finished it because I got it through this site... otherwise I would have tossed it.
I couldn't warm up to any of these characters (and I was in Vancouver as a young woman in the 80's) I found the plot dull, a great lack of meaningful dialogue and the heaps of narration totally boring.
Couldn't wait to finish it and hope to never read anything like it again!
I just couldn't get into this story. Put it down 3 times... and only finished it because I got it through this site... otherwise I would have tossed it.
I couldn't warm up to any of these characters (and I was in Vancouver as a young woman in the 80's) I found the plot dull, a great lack of meaningful dialogue and the heaps of narration totally boring.
Couldn't wait to finish it and hope to never read anything like it again!
May 28, 2014
Nancy Lee's novel contains a lot of poetic language. Each word is lifting a load and creating strong imagery.
I liked the 1984 setting and the sense of urgency in the book. I also felt that the multiple plots tied together well.
I liked the 1984 setting and the sense of urgency in the book. I also felt that the multiple plots tied together well.
June 29, 2023
Slow start, I struggled to understand the context. The storyline was good, although a trigger warning for r*pe and guns for any potential readers. A good apocalypse read!
April 10, 2016
Set in Vancouver in 1984, Gerry, the main character, is a teenager struggling with lots of difficult issues - anxiety about the threat of a nuclear incident, questioning her sexual identity, abandonment by her father, her mother’s post divorce relationships, her best friend Ian's relationships with two other women and his love/hate relationship with her, and trying to fit in with a group of older misfits planning a violent incident during the upcoming peace march. And, she makes a lot of poor choices. So does Ian, despite his efforts to protect her. Lee makes us care about these characters and their challenges despite their frequent much less than admirable behaviors.
March 20, 2014
Interesting read about a teenager's fears and hopes in a time of world unrest. Geraldine (Gerry) tries to cope with her parent's divorce and her father's abandonment, she yearns for love and acceptance as an adult, makes mistakes but survives them with physical and mental scars. The parallel story in a post-apocalyptic world did not seem related to the teenager story or it was related to it just because of Gerry's fears in relation to the nuclear arms escalation. I received the book from a First Reads GoodReads giveaway.
April 28, 2014
My first review!
First off, I loved Dead Girls.
Nancy Lee seemed so at home with short stories that I was really curious to see how she'd manage with a novel. She still writes like an angel. But the plot was sluggish and felt, well, stalled at times...writing in circles as though she didn't know where to take the story.
The economy of a short story seems to suit her better (at least based on The Age).
First off, I loved Dead Girls.
Nancy Lee seemed so at home with short stories that I was really curious to see how she'd manage with a novel. She still writes like an angel. But the plot was sluggish and felt, well, stalled at times...writing in circles as though she didn't know where to take the story.
The economy of a short story seems to suit her better (at least based on The Age).
April 24, 2014
Takes a looooooooooooong time to get going, which tested my patience. And while the story is interesting enough, the author is emphatic about poetic description instead of building a riveting story. The post-apocalyptic bits didn't really make sense (they're supposed to be scenes from an extended dream of the main character, I think), but they also didn't add much to the overall story.
December 1, 2014
The Age is a tense, cinematic, roller-coaster ride with Nancy Lee’s gritty, sparse prose driving the narrative forward. Her teenage narrator, Gerry, perfectly manifests the undercurrents of fear running through this period in history. Lee renders her character with a deep understanding of the teenage experience and Gerry’s world hums with authenticity. She is a character I won’t soon forget.
September 26, 2014
An excellent, beautifully written novel about fractured families, doomsday fears and a fully realized main character in the form of Gerry, who is bruised and battered by the world and keeps on going. Loved it.
November 5, 2015
Received as ARC.
Really two stories in one. I didn't quite see the connection. Maybe I missed something. But, The Age is a good read. Recommended.
Really two stories in one. I didn't quite see the connection. Maybe I missed something. But, The Age is a good read. Recommended.
March 17, 2014
Great book. I read this in 2 days, couldn't put it down. http://livinginthekitchenwithpuppies....
December 1, 2014
I loved Lee's short story collection DEAD GIRLS so very much. In THE AGE, Lee's prose hums with beauty and a sense of foreboding.
May 19, 2014
Review to come.
April 12, 2014
Contemporary Canadian novelist and GOOD. Gritty. Doesn't try to explain everything.
March 10, 2015
Recensie komt op chicklit.nl
Want to read
January 15, 2018I won this in a Goodreads first reads giveaway...thank you!
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews