Watermelon Syrup: A Novel

by Annie Jacobsen, Di Brandt

Lexi, a young Mennonite woman from Saskatchewan, comes to work as housekeeper and nanny for a doctor’s family in Waterloo, Ontario, during the Depression. Dr. Gerald Oliver is a handsome philanderer who lives with his neurotic and alcoholic wife, Cammy, and their two children. Lexi soon adapts to modern conveniences, happily wears Cammy’s expensive cast off clothes, and is transformed from an innocent into a chic urban beauty. When Lexi is called home to Saskatchewan to care for her dying mother, she returns a changed person. At home, Lexi finds a journal written by her older brother during the family’s journey from Russia to Canada. In it she reads of a tragedy kept secret for years, one hat reconciles her early memories of her mother as joyful and loving with the burdened woman she became in Canada. Lexi returns to Waterloo, where a crisis of her own, coupled with the knowledge of this secret, serves as the catalyst for her realization that, unlike her mother, she must create her own destiny. Watermelon Syrup is a classic the tale of a naive young woman at the crossroads of a traditional, restrictive world and a modern one with its freedom, risks, and responsibilities.

Genres: Fiction, Canada

280 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 2007

Reviews

[Marlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

How brave to take on the telling of trauma that has been hidden and denied in religious communities, in this case Mennonite communities.

[Marian]

I liked it although a fairly simple novel about a Mennonite girl. Describes the difficulties of immigrating to Canada from Russia and the family demands on a young girl who wanted to continue on into grade 9 but was sent to work instead to bring income into the family. After a year of working she came home to care for 3 younger sisters and her father because her mother was ill. Once her mother died she wanted to return to work to save money to go to nursing school but her father forbad her and instead allowed a younger sister to go on in school. Because she insisted, she was shunned, never again being allowed to see or communicate with her sisters.

[Pam Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Watermelon Syrup introduced me to a new chapter (for me) of Canadian history. The Mennonite community in Saskatchewan where she is born and raised is a tightly knit and tightly controlled community. When Lexi heads to Waterloo to work as a nanny for the Olivers, a whole new world opens up for her. The material world of Cammy's clothing, variety of food and outings pales to the worldliness of new relationships Lexi encounters. This novel is homegrown, a good story and was well-paced. Lexi is a complex character and radiates desire for living life to the fullest, even with the threat that brings.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this Canadian story about an immigrant mennonite family from Russia. It was a short read and while it was interesting I would like to have read more with further character development. Unfortunately the author had passed away before it was published so knowing this I wondered if there could have been more if she had been give the opportunity.

I love the time period it was set in and would recommend this to anyone looking for a short read.

[Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

too slow for my interest level, not really into the characters either

[Brenda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not at all what I thought it would be like. I was hoping for a good book about Mennonites, but what I got was almost a put down of the society.
Too bad

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I seem to be into books about religious minorities that were forced to leave Russia after the revolution. This one is about a Mennonite girl who left Russia for Canada.