Donovan creates the Montreal of the 50s with this story of Daisy, the unloved daughter and eventual stand-up comedian, and her magical and idolized brother, Drake, who turns their family world upside down by becoming a cripple.... Rita Donovan creates here a magical blend of lyricism, history - both personal and official - and searing humour. Both e.e. cummings and Samuel de Champlain inhabit these pages beside a powerfully constructed relationship between a brother and a sister.