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Semi-Detached
Hearts may freeze or thaw, but love never dies.
In December 2013, an ice storm buries Toronto as realtor Laura Keys prepares to sell a one-of-a-kind house on behalf of its comatose owner. Haunting Laura, and longing to be invited in, is a mysterious teenage girl with a Scottish terrier tucked into her coat.
As Laura readies the house for showing, she learns more about its owner, Edna “Eddie” Ferguson. Leading up to the Great Snowstorm of 1944, Eddie, a brickmaker, enters into a passionate yet ill-fated affair with her boss’s daughter. While uncovering the past, Laura navigates both the death of her mother and a troubled marriage straining under the weight of her infertility.
Across two paralyzing winter storms, set nearly seventy years apart and connected by a house and a murder, Semi-Detached contends with living after loss, love, and the meaning of home.
Insightful and evocative, emotionally intelligent and propulsive, this is a novel from a writer at the top of her game.
In December 2013, an ice storm buries Toronto as realtor Laura Keys prepares to sell a one-of-a-kind house on behalf of its comatose owner. Haunting Laura, and longing to be invited in, is a mysterious teenage girl with a Scottish terrier tucked into her coat.
As Laura readies the house for showing, she learns more about its owner, Edna “Eddie” Ferguson. Leading up to the Great Snowstorm of 1944, Eddie, a brickmaker, enters into a passionate yet ill-fated affair with her boss’s daughter. While uncovering the past, Laura navigates both the death of her mother and a troubled marriage straining under the weight of her infertility.
Across two paralyzing winter storms, set nearly seventy years apart and connected by a house and a murder, Semi-Detached contends with living after loss, love, and the meaning of home.
Insightful and evocative, emotionally intelligent and propulsive, this is a novel from a writer at the top of her game.
279 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 16, 2023
4 people are currently reading
159 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Ruth
14 books43 followersElizabeth Ruth is a writer, creative writing instructor and mother living in Toronto, Canada. Her first novel, Ten Good Seconds of Silence was a finalist for the Writers' Trust of Canada Fiction Prize, the Amazon.ca Best First Novel Award and the City of Toronto Book Award. Her critically acclaimed second novel, Smoke, was chosen for the One Book One Community program and named as a top-ten book of the year by NOW magazine. Elizabeth's third novel - Matadora, featuring a female bullfighter in 1930's Spain and Mexico -was published in April, 2013. Matadora is a novel about ambition, passion, politics, and art. NOW Magazine picked Matadora as #3 on their 2013 Must Read Books list. The National Post gave Matadora a stellar review: http://arts.nationalpost.com/2013/04/...
In 2013, Elizabeth will also publish a Good Reads Books novella for adults with low literacy. Love You To Death is a Psychological thriller.
In 2003 Elizabeth edited an anthology entitled: Bent On Writing, contemporary queer tales.
Elizabeth is well known for her mentorship of aspiring writers. She teaches at the University of Toronto, and within the Humber School for Writers Correspondence Program.
Recently Elizabeth held the position of Writer-In-Residence at the Toronto Public Library. She has also recently delivered workshops and offered manuscript evaluations to writers in northern Ontario. Together with parenting writer Ann Douglas, Elizabeth Ruth delivered professional development workshops to writers across Canada.
Elizabeth Ruth is the current chair of the author's advisory committee of the Writers' Trust of Canada.
She holds a BA in English Literature and an MA in Counselling Psychology, both from the University of Toronto. She is also a graduate of the Humber School of Writers.
In 2013, Elizabeth will also publish a Good Reads Books novella for adults with low literacy. Love You To Death is a Psychological thriller.
In 2003 Elizabeth edited an anthology entitled: Bent On Writing, contemporary queer tales.
Elizabeth is well known for her mentorship of aspiring writers. She teaches at the University of Toronto, and within the Humber School for Writers Correspondence Program.
Recently Elizabeth held the position of Writer-In-Residence at the Toronto Public Library. She has also recently delivered workshops and offered manuscript evaluations to writers in northern Ontario. Together with parenting writer Ann Douglas, Elizabeth Ruth delivered professional development workshops to writers across Canada.
Elizabeth Ruth is the current chair of the author's advisory committee of the Writers' Trust of Canada.
She holds a BA in English Literature and an MA in Counselling Psychology, both from the University of Toronto. She is also a graduate of the Humber School of Writers.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
October 4, 2023
I find it different reading books when I personally know the author and this book is one of those. I have read all three previous books as well by Elizabeth Ruth. And I live in Toronto where this novel takes place, in fact the specific neighbourhood where the story is focused is one I know through a friend who lived on a couple of the streets featured in the book!
As I read this book I can feel the love the author has for the city of Toronto while she puts a spotlight on the struggles of people trying to live in this growing unaffordable to many city. The focus on youth and their struggles with homelessness is there.
The novel includes a mystery, and although the mystery is a key to the novel, it doesn't take it over. It is revealed at the end but not dramatically, just satisfactorily for me.
So many threads weave through this novel that include brick making, bowling, Monopoly, issues of class and religion, issues of gender and expectations, issues of infertility - but also great love that runs deep and spans time. The author conveys messages to the reader through how she presents the threads and issues.
Chapters are short and not numbered. Chapters that pertain to the 1944 time period and murder mystery are marked with a puzzle piece which is very helpful because the chapters move back and forth between 1944 and 2013.
Both periods involve an ice storm in Toronto and the descriptions of the ice, the snow, the sky, the air are so rich. How many words for white are there I wondered? I'll think about this book during the winter months when I am outside breathing in the icy air for sure!
The cover of the book is so interesting as it includes icons that are from the story - that act as a draw into as well as a reminder of the threads of the book. And the cover itself is - of course - white!!!
A wonderful book for a book club discussion. Lots to explore here!
As I read this book I can feel the love the author has for the city of Toronto while she puts a spotlight on the struggles of people trying to live in this growing unaffordable to many city. The focus on youth and their struggles with homelessness is there.
The novel includes a mystery, and although the mystery is a key to the novel, it doesn't take it over. It is revealed at the end but not dramatically, just satisfactorily for me.
So many threads weave through this novel that include brick making, bowling, Monopoly, issues of class and religion, issues of gender and expectations, issues of infertility - but also great love that runs deep and spans time. The author conveys messages to the reader through how she presents the threads and issues.
Chapters are short and not numbered. Chapters that pertain to the 1944 time period and murder mystery are marked with a puzzle piece which is very helpful because the chapters move back and forth between 1944 and 2013.
Both periods involve an ice storm in Toronto and the descriptions of the ice, the snow, the sky, the air are so rich. How many words for white are there I wondered? I'll think about this book during the winter months when I am outside breathing in the icy air for sure!
The cover of the book is so interesting as it includes icons that are from the story - that act as a draw into as well as a reminder of the threads of the book. And the cover itself is - of course - white!!!
A wonderful book for a book club discussion. Lots to explore here!
January 13, 2024
Was really fun read learning about the east-end over two time periods. The book also had strong and interesting characters.
July 3, 2024
“Later, she’d wish that she could’ve answered all of Cat’s questions accurately, or described what it had felt like, and what she’d witnessed lying in the toilet bowl between her legs. She would’ve liked to say that she’d thought of Cat because it was their shared experience, a shared loss. But as with her mother’s death, this loss was hers alone and she knew it.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 23, 2024
This book was so good. I love historical novels set in Toronto, and as I’ve discovered, I love stories set in the dead of winter, ice storms, snowy dark nights, bring it!
Told in two timelines, 2013, and during the greatest ice storm in Toronto’s history in 1944, we meet Laura and Cat, Edna (Eddie) and Annie, lovers living through complicated times.
In 2013, Laura wants to be a mother, but her partner, Cat is “done” trying. It’s too expensive, but it's likely more true Cat doesn’t want to be a parent. Laura makes a desperate last-ditch effort to get pregnant, but will trying to sell a house filled with ghosts and a murder mystery get in the way?
In 1944, Edna (Eddie) works for a violent and abusive man, whose daughter has fallen in love for the first time, it just so happens she’s fallen for a woman. Not so comfortable a love story for two women in 1944, one of whom has a father who'd kill her if he knew.
This novel is both a murder mystery, a ghost story, and a heartbreaking love story. Also, who knew Monopoly was invented as the “landlord’s game” and a criticism of monopolies and centralized land ownership? Not me.
Told in two timelines, 2013, and during the greatest ice storm in Toronto’s history in 1944, we meet Laura and Cat, Edna (Eddie) and Annie, lovers living through complicated times.
In 2013, Laura wants to be a mother, but her partner, Cat is “done” trying. It’s too expensive, but it's likely more true Cat doesn’t want to be a parent. Laura makes a desperate last-ditch effort to get pregnant, but will trying to sell a house filled with ghosts and a murder mystery get in the way?
In 1944, Edna (Eddie) works for a violent and abusive man, whose daughter has fallen in love for the first time, it just so happens she’s fallen for a woman. Not so comfortable a love story for two women in 1944, one of whom has a father who'd kill her if he knew.
This novel is both a murder mystery, a ghost story, and a heartbreaking love story. Also, who knew Monopoly was invented as the “landlord’s game” and a criticism of monopolies and centralized land ownership? Not me.
April 1, 2024
If I've ever read a literary book, this book definitely fits the piece perfectly.
I have waited to read this books for months, after buying it as soon as it was published. This was due to the fact my book club/book exchange were reading this together, and I was just itching to get to it. My group uses a dice rolling method to find our book of the month, and I was so happy when it finally landed on Ruth's novel!
The cover, after reading the book, is so endearing and cute - reminding me of the key themes throughout the book.
The prose is beautiful and well written. Each sentence has so much hidden within it. I'm sure I could pull this book apart for months and still not discover everything within it. Yet, all the important breadcrumbs trailing us readers along, that we required, were there.
Ruth manages to cover both a time in history and present with beautifully interwoven timelines, taunt with tension. I found myself pulled along with the story and falling in love with the characters. While Laura was a well rounded character, and Eddie a strong yet sincerely kind presence, I couldn't help falling for Astrid. Astrid's woes, and the brusque mannerisms she gained from her life added to her snappy personality. She does not have it easy, but then no one does.
Sub-plot characters seemed to be battling their own issues that are also relevant to the themes and show just exactly what some people may be juggling with.
The ending is left both concluded and vague. We learn how the emotional arc ends and yet the action arc could continue. This may not be everyone's cup of tea - but for a literary novel it felt right for its genre. The main message at the end, which I won't spoil, is important and relative to today's time. It's something many people are still struggling with, and I have only just recently found my path on.
*Potential spoilers below this point - I'll try to keep vague*
I choose a 4/5 only because I wanted a bit more of a fight with the relationship the main character and her spouse have. I felt like some choices were made too easily - and while they could be reversed and changed, I wanted to see what happened. Laura never gets to have that all out fighting conversation with her spouse, as her and her wife are constantly separated or with company. The relationship between Edna(Eddie) and Astrid was so fitting, I wanted to see the deep groves and chunks between Laura and Cat more.
Bravo Elizabeth - I can't wait to try out Matadora!
I have waited to read this books for months, after buying it as soon as it was published. This was due to the fact my book club/book exchange were reading this together, and I was just itching to get to it. My group uses a dice rolling method to find our book of the month, and I was so happy when it finally landed on Ruth's novel!
The cover, after reading the book, is so endearing and cute - reminding me of the key themes throughout the book.
The prose is beautiful and well written. Each sentence has so much hidden within it. I'm sure I could pull this book apart for months and still not discover everything within it. Yet, all the important breadcrumbs trailing us readers along, that we required, were there.
Ruth manages to cover both a time in history and present with beautifully interwoven timelines, taunt with tension. I found myself pulled along with the story and falling in love with the characters. While Laura was a well rounded character, and Eddie a strong yet sincerely kind presence, I couldn't help falling for Astrid. Astrid's woes, and the brusque mannerisms she gained from her life added to her snappy personality. She does not have it easy, but then no one does.
Sub-plot characters seemed to be battling their own issues that are also relevant to the themes and show just exactly what some people may be juggling with.
The ending is left both concluded and vague. We learn how the emotional arc ends and yet the action arc could continue. This may not be everyone's cup of tea - but for a literary novel it felt right for its genre. The main message at the end, which I won't spoil, is important and relative to today's time. It's something many people are still struggling with, and I have only just recently found my path on.
*Potential spoilers below this point - I'll try to keep vague*
I choose a 4/5 only because I wanted a bit more of a fight with the relationship the main character and her spouse have. I felt like some choices were made too easily - and while they could be reversed and changed, I wanted to see what happened. Laura never gets to have that all out fighting conversation with her spouse, as her and her wife are constantly separated or with company. The relationship between Edna(Eddie) and Astrid was so fitting, I wanted to see the deep groves and chunks between Laura and Cat more.
Bravo Elizabeth - I can't wait to try out Matadora!
July 2, 2024
I listened to narration of this book ramping it up rather quickly to a 1.2x reading pace due to the narrator’s slow style.
Not really my cup of tea, gay romance/historical fiction and ghost story, but I’m giving it a 3 for the Canadian/local content and the author’s effort at historical research.
I felt the author tried a bit too hard on all fronts. Having so many queer relationships past and present as key characters seemed contrived to me, and the emphasis on infertility and the numerous technical references of the ivf process seemed inconsistent with the tenuous nature of their relationship. Some resolution on that front in the ending would have been good.
Not exactly literary fiction, but solid writing all the same.
Not really my cup of tea, gay romance/historical fiction and ghost story, but I’m giving it a 3 for the Canadian/local content and the author’s effort at historical research.
I felt the author tried a bit too hard on all fronts. Having so many queer relationships past and present as key characters seemed contrived to me, and the emphasis on infertility and the numerous technical references of the ivf process seemed inconsistent with the tenuous nature of their relationship. Some resolution on that front in the ending would have been good.
Not exactly literary fiction, but solid writing all the same.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
October 1, 2023I really liked this - until I didn’t.
The fundamental problem is that the entire novel is a house of cards - built entirely upon ever so convenient coincidence and contrivance.
While this is a love letter to Toronto, it is also a massive info-dump. I spent half my reading time yelling - in my head - begging the author to stop preaching at me, and to stop telling me everything. Honestly, this is the kind of internal dialogue I expect to have when I’m reading YA, not when I’m reading Adult Fiction!!
Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for granting me access to an early digital review copy.
DNF
The fundamental problem is that the entire novel is a house of cards - built entirely upon ever so convenient coincidence and contrivance.
While this is a love letter to Toronto, it is also a massive info-dump. I spent half my reading time yelling - in my head - begging the author to stop preaching at me, and to stop telling me everything. Honestly, this is the kind of internal dialogue I expect to have when I’m reading YA, not when I’m reading Adult Fiction!!
Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for granting me access to an early digital review copy.
DNF
April 11, 2024
‘Hers was a semi-detached existence. She’d forgotten how to live - the hardest thing of all to do’
What a unique book. I loved the East-end Toronto references, i could clearly picture every location she mentioned. It’s a book of many themes: great loss - Laura’s mother, her pregnancies, her sense of self which gets caught up in Cat’s life and slowly deteriorates. Annie’s loss of her own mother and feelings of betrayal and lack of love from her father. The attitudes towards lesbian relationships in 1944 vs. 2013. Unhappy marriages - Annie’s parents, Laura and Cat, Beth and Matt. And most surprising of all was the supernatural aspect!
Certainly not like anything i’ve read before.
What a unique book. I loved the East-end Toronto references, i could clearly picture every location she mentioned. It’s a book of many themes: great loss - Laura’s mother, her pregnancies, her sense of self which gets caught up in Cat’s life and slowly deteriorates. Annie’s loss of her own mother and feelings of betrayal and lack of love from her father. The attitudes towards lesbian relationships in 1944 vs. 2013. Unhappy marriages - Annie’s parents, Laura and Cat, Beth and Matt. And most surprising of all was the supernatural aspect!
Certainly not like anything i’ve read before.
October 26, 2023
Two lesbian love stories, separated by sixty years, bound together by a massive snow storm (and real estate) that somehow synchs time and throws the characters together. It's a ghost story and who dunnit that reads like the best kind of realism -- emotionally charged with compelling characters caught up in circumstances that yank your heart out. The writing is fantastic. The story pulses. I raced through it, eager to get to the end then was sad that it ended, tho the story lives on, as the best kind do, leaving the reader much to contemplate.
January 28, 2024
Semi-Detached is a compelling love story— actually two love stories told in two different time periods. Laura and her wife Cat are struggling in a relationship that has gone cold as the winter storm outside. We also follow the story from the other ice storm in 1944, between Edna who works at the brickworks, and Annie who is the daughter of her boss.
I don’t normally like long descriptions of weather, but Ruth’s accounts of both ice storms are beautiful, beautifully written. The cold is it once obscuring and clarifying.
I found this novel deeply satisfying.
I don’t normally like long descriptions of weather, but Ruth’s accounts of both ice storms are beautiful, beautifully written. The cold is it once obscuring and clarifying.
I found this novel deeply satisfying.
June 8, 2024
As a former resident of the east end of Toronto, I really enjoyed this book, for both the storyline and also the descriptive and historical references for the community. The love story of Annie and Eddie was so tragically fragile and yet strong at the same time. The challenges of the relationship between Laura and Cat were understandable. I would have liked to see resolution around Laura’s storyline a bit more. Overall, a lovely read and it was perfect to finish it during pride month!
July 26, 2025
The back cover copy says this is part love story, part ghost story, part murder mystery. It is all of these things and none of them. Not scary enough for fans of ghost stories, not mysterious enough for murder mystery fans, and mainly, I think, a love story. A story of doomed love and failed love. Don't pick it up expecting your traditional ghost, love or mystery story. Pick it up if you're interested in exploring the myriad ways in which love fails and (sometimes) trancends.
October 7, 2024
SEMI-DETACHED by @elizabethruthauthor is more winter than fall, but all incredible. Set in a very specific east end Toronto neighbourhood during the 1944 and 2013 ice storms, it's about a woman falling apart in the life she's built for herself. It's also about love and home and sacrifice. The story and characters now live rent-free in my mind. Oh - and it's a little ghosty.
March 13, 2025
I really loved this book! It was set in my neighborhood, and I pass by 2 Condor Ave every day. The characters were endearing and I enjoyed the back and forth of the time periods. I also enjoyed learning more about my own ‘hood. There were many references here that made me think I was meant to read this book.
March 13, 2024
The story seemed disjointed. While the past story was wrapped up and tied with a bow, the present story remained totally unresolved. It is as though the author only really wanted to tell the past story. The result is incomplete.
April 16, 2024
I loved this story - a story about relationships and finding ones truth. Set in modern day and 1940s toronto. Loved the lesbian history element of this book and the way Toronto is a character in the novel. Also found the mystery, ghost story element pulled me in.
May 3, 2024
I enjoyed reading especially because the book was set in my neighbourhood! However I imagine the details given of streets and intersections would be more tedious for someone who hasn’t walked those same streets themselves. Seems to be written especially for this area of East end Torontonians.
July 5, 2024
Amazingly poignant and gripping.
This book hooked me and didn't let go until I was done.
The dive into Toronto's history, like a tour through one of the old neighborhoods added an inexplicable charm for me, as a Torontonian.
This book hooked me and didn't let go until I was done.
The dive into Toronto's history, like a tour through one of the old neighborhoods added an inexplicable charm for me, as a Torontonian.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 12, 2024
Gifted to me by a dear friend who lives in the neighborhoods these characters frequent - the street names are familiar, which helps the eerie deja vu feeling of the novel. Fans of Toronto who appreciate a little spooky goosebump shiver will enjoy this.
December 9, 2024
I heard about this through CBC one morning. The characters were interesting, but I struggled to follow their journeys across the multiple story lines. I enjoyed reading into some Toronto history though!
June 10, 2025
I actually gave this book 3.5 stars. The characters were interesting and I did enjoy the storyline, but it did seem a bit disjointed at times. Liked that it had two timelines but the pace was too slow at the start. Still, i think it was worth reading.
October 14, 2023
Too much telling, not enough showing.
November 24, 2023
Deep and ethereal.
March 6, 2024
A story in two timelines that demonstrate the complexities of living in each era. Great local history references.
March 16, 2024
Enjoyed this two time period book mostly for the Leslieville setting and history. Feel like I need to do a walking tour of the neighbourhood now.
May 19, 2024
Historical fiction lovingly set in Toronto's East End, surprisingly light given the many serious themes.
August 5, 2024
Loved the east side of Toronto references and history of the Greenwood tracks and queer spaces. It’s my first Elizabeth Ruth novel and I enjoyed the writing that keeps you engaged. An enjoyable read!
Read
November 2, 2024DNF at 40%. It’s a 200 page book that is a struggle to get through.
December 22, 2024
I liked the depiction of Toronto. Had it been set in any other city I would have (likely) DNFed.
October 21, 2025
4 stars for the historical fiction half of the book, absolutely loved that part of the story line.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews