Splitsville

by Howard Akler

It's 1971. Hal Sachs runs a used bookstore. Business isn't so great, and the store is in a part of Toronto that's about to be paved over with a behemoth expressway. And then Hal meets Lily Klein, an activist schoolteacher who'll do just about anything to stop the highway. It's love at first sight. Until it isn't. And then Hal vanishes.

A half-century later, Hal's nephew, Aitch, waits for his baby to be born as he tries to piece together facts and fictions about Hal's disappearance.

Splitsville is a diamond-cut love letter to a city whose defining moment was to say 'no way' to a highway, and a look at the obsessions that carry down through a family.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Canada

123 pages, Paperback

Published September 25, 2018

Reviews

[Beej Jeffery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Splitsville conjures up the age of the Beat Generation merely by it's title. While not actually being the stream-of-conciousness style of Kerouac, there is an essence of the times embedded in this novel. The writing is functional, although sometimes the plot becomes vague but this really only requires an effort from the reader. Does "Splitsville" represent the societal division that exist in the fight to have the expressway abandoned? We don't really find out but we can share in the ultimate victory and it can set a blueprint for future struggles.

I enjoyed the read as it created just enough mystery to hold my attention. Was Hal a victim of his determination to stay put? Was LIly's rejection enough to set him on a a path to obscurity? Read it and decide for yourself.
Thanks to NetGalley and Coach House Books for this ARC

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Howard Ackler's "Splitsville." I didn't know a lot about the Spadina Expressway except that Allen Rd was part of the failed project and there's a bench in Ramsden park (my neighbourhood park) dedicated to someone who fought the expressway. I thought it made great fodder for a novel. That said, his style which is sort of stream of consciousness and moves quickly between characters may not be for everyone. I couldn't make sense of the voice decision for the newphew, Aitch, who is always referred to as "you." But that's a small complaint. Overall, "Splitsville" is an excellent novel and well worth the read.

[BookwormishMe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grab your dictionary! Splitsville is filled with words that are rather obscure, but simply add to the dimension of this novel. Splitsville was nothing like what I expected, odd at times and disjointed in others. Still this is a very curious story of an older man and a middle aged woman coming together for a brief time in the early 70s.

Sachs is a bookstore owner, which is the reason I was drawn to this book. Much of the story takes place around and in the bookstore proper. He meets Lily at her father’s funeral. Lily’s father was a friend of Sachs. The affair is the result of this meeting and the subsequent one, as Lily disposes of her father’s book collection. The location of this bookstore is in Toronto, a town in flux during this time period. A central character in the book is the growth of Toronto and how to manage it.

Lily is an activist. Lily doesn’t want to see the bookstore locale changed for growth. The local mafioso and government do. This is how the growth of Toronto becomes a character in the story. Lily is also a schoolteacher. She teaches grade 11 civics at the local high school, but is being censored by her principal for teaching about local civic events.

Peppered through this short novel are other colorful characters such as Lily’s best friend Phoebe. The mysterious Es, apparently Sachs’ niece, is in some part telling the story. Her accounting is interspersed with those of Sachs and Lily. Min & Larry are Sachs’ sister and brother in law, who are co-owners of the bookstore. Joe Sharpe is the local slumlord who wants to force people out of both their homes and businesses to appease a developer as well as line his pockets. Each one of these characters gives the story a well-roundedness and depth that would be missing if it was just about Sachs and Lily.

I liked this book because of the depth of the story. I really enjoyed reading about what life was like at that time, which is when I was just a child. This book is short but a slow read. There is a profundity to it. As I said at the beginning, make sure you have your dictionary nearby, because there are words spoken and written that aren’t used everyday.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an engaging little story, involving some Toronto urban history that seems far too overlooked in recent years. However, it would have been more effective if (1) I could understand the reason behind the undifferentiated mash-up of two eras, and (2) I could get more of a handle on the nephew's desire to look into his uncle's disappearance, which seems curiously low-key and under-developed.

[Biljana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to read Splitsville because of its backdrop of Toronto in the 1960s. There were many references to well-known areas and also the controversial, and eventually cancelled, bid to build the Spadina Expressway. Although I enjoyed the Toronto history, it never seemed to come alive or create an atmosphere or lived setting. I think that anyone unfamiliar with Toronto would struggle with having a sense of these areas without looking them up or exploring them outside of this novel.

The main story focuses on Aitch, who is considering what happened to his uncle, Hal Sachs, who disappeared many years ago. Hal's bookstore was a desirable location for builders who wanted to see the Spadina Expressway come to fruition, but unfortunately it was not as desirable for those looking to buy books. Before his disappearance, Hal is involved a relationship with a teacher/social activist and we are given a sense of their brief relationship. Again, the story didn't work for me. I found the writing too spare and stilted and it was difficult to connect with the characters. I'm rounding up to 3 stars because there were brief moments that I loved, although the book didn't work for me, overall.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Coach House Books for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

[Edward Nawotka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Howard Akler's Splitsville is short, intense romance novel wrapped in a historical narrative about 70's political activism, verging on radicalism. It is also paean to bookstores, Jewish culture and Toronto as it was. Like a key moment in the narrative, it sneaks up on you and kicks you where it counts.

[Meg Morden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. I enjoyed the interweaving of past and present. It read like poetry in its compression and spareness. My favorite sentence is "Triangular glances and the moment runs lonely and wayward, like a trickle of sweat." (From page 65.)

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable snapshot of a long-ago Toronto. The pace was quick and engaging and I sped through it very quickly (not hard at 119 pages). I wasn't entirely clear why the nephew was looking for his uncle, that part just seemed like an idle thought dragged out to justify a dual perspective.

[Doriana Bisegna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quirky, fun and just amazing writing! Am now a fan!

[Mary-Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Something itches his eyes, the dander of domesticity." So GREAT. If you love Toronto and it's people, hardscrabble present and past, you must read.

[Russell Field · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5