Equipoise: Ten Stories

by Katie Zdybel

A young woman forms her own idea of feminine sexuality while skinny-dipping with her best friend's mother during a thunderstorm. A naive bride returns to her beloved Ontario farm country and, after an encounter with a young female beekeeper, suddenly sees her husband in a sobering new light. Under pretences, a rural doctor returns for her childhood friend, but finds the women in her new life have only a very specific use for her. A middle-aged woman facing the devastating end of a friendship as well as her last chance at childbirth, flees North only to be confronted with the complexities of life in the Yukon. The women of  Equipoise  struggle to find their positionality in life in relation to the women around them. They are also contoured by their geographies, caught between North and South, East and West, childhood home and adulthood home. They struggle to maintain a balance within the tension of their opposing female roles, landscapes, friendships, rivalries, victories, and catastrophes, always vigourously seeking equipoise.

Genres: Short Stories

240 pages, Paperback

Published October 15, 2021

Reviews

[Emily Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing is beautiful. I just finished it and wish there was more! The stories are full of nuanced women navigating various types of relationships. I loved it!

[Sam Conroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really loved reading a fictional book located in real places I was familiar with, immediately felt a connection to the stories because of this. Each short story had its own brilliance, yet they all sort of balanced one another well. Quick and fun read. Would be perfect for a beach day or cottage weekend! Perfect length to each story. Loved it !

[rita ✴︎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

don’t know how to feel! i think the point of the stories escaped me completely. i really liked the last story though, made me feel

i also hated the camping trip i was on and was mainly reading just for something to do so! maybe that’s part of it

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was nice but I’m not really a short story reader. I get connected to the characters and then it’s over

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the style immensely. Some stories stood out more than others and I wish they would've gone on. Loved the feminist focus.

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

best book I have read in a long time. recommending to everyone I know - sending it to my grandma in the mail

[Amy Linton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find a good short story is like downing a shot of espresso instead of sipping on my usual jumbo-sized mug o Joe. And, belaboring this over-caffeinated metaphor, this collection by Katie Zdybel is like finding the hidden gem of an Italian caffé bar right around the corner.

Taut, muscular writing, unique insights into the Canadian regional identity (LA versus NYC has NOTHING on the divide between rural Ontario and Vancouver), and simply wonderful storytelling makes this collection a delight.

Fans of the short-story form will rejoice; but even if you tend to read longer fiction, give these little beauties a try.

[Mary Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! Stories of domestic life, with details creating such a view of life--so sensitive and aware about relationships and family, love and daily life. I am absolutely glued to the book, and will be sorry when it ends.

This is a book I picked up and couldn't put down until the very end, wanting to stay in those worlds which are so exquisitely woven. Mostly about relationships and discoveries within them, whether about the self or others, I was pulled into those worlds. Exactly the kind of writing I am entranced by.