Suddenly

by Bonnie Burnard

The long-awaited novel from the Giller Prize–winning, #1 bestselling author of A Good House —a novel with the power to change the way women, and men, understand one another. A phone call in the night, an unexpected diagnosis—suddenly, life can change forever. sandra, Colleen and Jude have been friends for nearly a lifetime. They share sexual secrets, decorating tips, counsel on marriage, even a hairdresser. Despite their differences and occasional snarls, the friendship only grows stronger over time, and their partners, Jack, Richard and Gus, go along with it, letting this union shape their lives. Now, with sandra’s crisis, everyone must find a way to endure the present and imagine the future. sweeping through and beyond the second half of the 20th century—from men in space to 9/11— the novel creates an astonishingly intimate portrait of three women balanced on the knife edge of middle age. Impossibly, if the men on Mir could look down through their window on the world and see this beach in southern Ontario, in the northern hemisphere of the spinning blue earth, it would be Rachel who caught their attention. Right there, one of them would say, pointing down from the impossible distance. A girl, glowing on that beach. Waving like mad.
—From Suddenly

Genres: Fiction, Canada, Book Club, Contemporary, Friendship, Family Drama

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Bonnie Burnard was a Canadian novelist and short story writer.

She grew up in Forest, Ontario and lived much of her life in Saskatchewan. Burnard based her books on her roots in Southwestern Ontario.

In 1989 Women of Influence won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for a first novel. In 1995 she was awarded the Marian Engel Award, and in 1999, she won the Giller Prize for her novel, A Good House.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this book hit too close to home, making it too hard of a topic to read. Timing is everything.

[Sandra]

The story of a friendship and the death of one of the three friends: sandra, Colleen and Jude. Time frame covers 20000 to 2006. Geographical setting is London, Ontario: Oxford Book Store is mentioned. Title comes from concept that no one is ever ready for the death of a loved one. The characters of the women and their partners are well drawn within a traditional framework.Basically focussed on "how people cope with loss" and most specifically about friends coping with the loss of a friend and of the life patterns that had been established based on the friendship. Emotionally a difficult read. The story is in the friendship but something about the ending seems unfinished: is that because the reader hopes for closure? where there can be none? Is it too close to life? Does it offer any hope? I will likely need to reread but how willingly will I do that?

[Ann Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating detail-rich novel which paints a realistic portrait of women's friendships. The novel's structure is particularly fascinating. We lose the central character about three-quarters of the way through the book and yet the story -- and the other characters -- carry on without her. I think that's the point: to show us that life does go on -- and how it goes on. A fascinating book.

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I stumbled across Bonnie Burnard whilst browsing books published by Virago, undoubtedly one of my favourite houses. I was drawn to the storyline of Suddenly, which deals with a woman who has terminal cancer, and is trying to live fully during her remaining days, whilst remembering those which have passed. I was also most interested in the fact that Suddenly was blurbed by both Alice Munro and Carol Shields, heavyweights of Canadian authors whose work I love.

At first, I really enjoyed Burnard's writing style. In the first chapter, she writes with insight about how it must feel to know that your life is limited, and that you face incredible amounts of pain. She writes: 'What she is finally beginning to understand is that all these years of talk, the pleasure of idiocy, the bouts of worry, the complaints, the humouring of memory, even the offhand, underdone affection, these are the least of it. The best of it is being known. Known over time.' Burnard has real strength here too, in showing how Sandra's illness progresses.

Sadly, there is no sense of constancy within Suddenly. The consequent chapters have rather plain, matter-of-fact prose, and a great deal of the author's thoughtfulness and exploration into terminal illness, both on an individual level and within the wider family unit, seems to vanish. There are many secondary characters here, and they are introduced in quick succession, which becomes rather confusing. None of these characters is particularly interesting, either; even a couple of days after finishing the novel, I found myself unable to remember much about any of them aside from protagonist Sandra's husband, Jack.

My interest in the present-day story did hold somewhat, but the forays into the past, which are made with no delineation between time periods, I found boring. The structure feels a little disorienting at times, and the main threads of the story are lost, entangled in a dull recounting of mundanity. Burnard also has a habit of switching from one character to another without mentioning the new character's names; instead, she merely uses pronouns, which tend to make everything so confusing.

Suddenly held promise at its outset, but I found it to be poorly executed on the whole. I had to keep stopping myself when I was reading, in able to try and orient myself - to work out who was related to who, and what their relationship consisted of. Suddenly is a disappointingly muddled novel, which I had hoped to enjoy, but which did not continue as I expected. The story is bogged down in ordinary details and bland conversations between flat characters, and there is also a curious lack of emotion throughout, particularly given the present-day storyline.

[Zguba Salemenska · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very moving portrait of ordinary lives and friendships.

[AnnMarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written. Tough to read thoughts from a woman who is dying. And the dynamics between the friendships.

[Lynn]

A woman dying of cancer. Well written but too much detail for me.

[Frances Macknight]

A heart wrenching story of losing a friend. Beautifully written with an insight into the depth of love and loss.

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

drags on, just like the illness

[Chastain · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Much preferred A Good House.

[Pooker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, although enjoyed seems not the right word for a story built around a character's illness and inevitable death.

Sandra, Colleen and Jude have been friends for most of their adult lives. They have seen each other through joys and heartaches, marriages and betrayals. They've laughed and "snarled". Years ago Jude had cancer and survived. Sandra, at the opening of the book, has discovered a lump in her breast a "little black-hearted misery" as she puts it, the first of the "hard little bastard bullets".

Sandra will die in the course of this book. From the initial discovery in the first chapter, with its wary optimism for survival, we jump ahead four years and know that there will be no miracle cure. We must live through this, the remainder of Sandra's life, and we do. We live through the thoughts and feelings and actions of these three woman with their husbands and children, both as they live through these final days and as they lived before.

I was comforted by the solicitousness of the three friends for each other. Coincidentally I happened to read on a blog (or some such thing) a list of things to do to help a person with cancer. We have all been or will be at some point - wanting to be helpful but not knowing what to do or say. These friends know and care enough to do these things, even though they may themselves be grieving and exhausted. I was a little bit taken aback though by their attitude toward neighbours' and others' obviously well-meaning efforts to be helpful. The provision of food and encouraging words did not seem as appreciated as I might have thought.

I was both comforted and discomforted with thoughts of my own death, hopefully distant but inevitable nonetheless. Who would I want to have with me in my final days, who would want to be there, who would know how to help and understand what I need?

I was both comforted and discomforted by the thought that, though I will die, life will go on. I will live on in the memories of people close to me, but inevitably those memories will fade and disappear with coming generations. As is and will be the case for all of us.

I don't know if I would have appreciated this book's grace and wisdom and authenticity if I were reading it at 20, but with 50+ years of living experience I certainly did.

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has been a disappointment mainly because I expected so much from Bonnie Burnard, whose previous novel, A Good House, was a favorite book. The novel has an interesting story line about three friends who battle life's problems together. But the author writes from the present to the past without notice. There are numerous characters in the book and, quite often, it is difficult to discern which the author is speaking of. The confusion distracts from the story.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A moving story of 3 adult women who are have been best friends for many years. One of them gets breast cancer and they continue to support each other. The woman who is ill, reads back through her diaries that hold account of the many things they have experienced together. It is a good read, however, it is written in third person narrative and is difficult at times to know who is being talked about.

[Kyla · Rating 3 out of 5]

EAGERLY awaited this book, 10 years in the making, after her first and amazing book "A Good House" which I need to reread now. Expectations of the highest kind are often dashed, and this was no exception. The premise was a good one, examining long-time female friendship under troubled times, but I honestly couldn't keep the characters straight. And there were only 6 characters, really. And 300 pages. So that is not a success. So sad.

[Shari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't say that I enjoyed this book about the final days of a 40/50 something woman who is dying of breast cancer. The story is really about her life and the impact she had on friends and family - and how she would like to be remembered - as told through the journals she kept and ultimatley shares. And while even though her illness must have lasted several years and progressed throught several stages - her death comes suddenly to those who loved her - and to the reader as well.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

An unexpected diagnosis starts a novel about death and life. The story draws its title from the obituary 'died suddenly' but she did not. Is this what we all have to look forward too? I was not the happiest endorser of this book when I finished it... sad. It was very well written so I chalk it up to my intolerance of sad literature. On the other hand, it's title has made me think "what does 'suddenly' really mean and are we prepared for death whether it happens suddenly or not?

[Vionna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sandra, Colleen and Jude, along with their husbands, have been friends for years and have formed very close bonds. Now Sandra is loosing her battle with cancer. The female characters are looking back on their intertwining lives and wondering how they will face the future without Sandra. Bonnie Barnard has written a very heartfelt book and I do like her style.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was in high school with Bonnie Burnard. I enjoyed her first novel and am looking forward to this one that was given to my for my birthday by my daughter.

Bonnie writes a good story. It was fun to read of places that I know in London, Ontario. Our English teacher, the late Mrs. Maclean, would be very proud of Bonnie.

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story of three women who have been friends for decades and now one of them is fighting for her life. Flashbacks between past and present. I almost stopped reading it... I think partly because the woman is dying of breast cancer and it was hitting too close to home for me, but partly I found the story rather disjointed. Disappointing, as I was looking forward to this book so much.

[Maureen]

A wife, mother, sister and friend dies from cancer. As she lies on her death bed, she remembers different times in her life she has spent with her husband and friends.

Although it is very well written, I have not rated this book as it is very depressing.

[Ruth Buckwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Long and boring. I should probably be more sympathetic because it was a story about cancer, death family and friendship. However, was Burnard being paid by the word? This book could have been half its length and still been too long. Totally lost patience with it and skimmed the last 100 pages.

[Carly Svamvour]

Recommended to me by JANNA at Book Buzz . . .

http://bookbuzzdiscussion.torontopubl...

[Rhea Tregebov]

I tried reading this in the fall and had to put it down as the topic (cancer) is very difficult. But Burnard is such an exquisite writer that I'm completely caught up in it now.

[John Rees]

Thought it might be a good book for Colleen

[Daphne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great contemporary women. Good look at friendship and its ramifications when illness strikes.

[Maria Botica · Rating 3 out of 5]

well written, life and death are messy and that is portrayed in an unmessy way, that's the best I can do to describe this book.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heart wrenching read, but a great story of long friendship.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoy story.....Location...London Ontario .....

[Patricia Mcgovern · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started off well, then became very heavy going!

[Lindasp · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a sad/sweet/happy story of close friends supporting their friend through her bout with cancer. It was also interesting because it is set in London.