Waiting for Joe

by Sandra Birdsell

After you've lost it all — job, house, savings, future —what have you got left? A piercing new novel of our times by one of Canada's finest fiction writers.

On a chilly early morning in late spring, Joe Beaudry and his wife, Laurie, wake up in circumstances that would challenge they are on the lam in a stolen motorhome on the edge of a Walmart parking lot in Regina, Saskatchewan. They've gone bust, lost the house that was Joe's gift from his dad, lost the business Joe started when he got married, and stuck his ancient father in a nursing home in Winnipeg so they could flee their creditors. Joe knows the reality of the situation, and is trying to raise enough cash to get them both to Fort McMurray where he hopes he can find work. But Laurie, even though she watched Joe trash their high-end appliances with a sledgehammer when the yard sale didn't deliver enough cash, somehow thinks it's only temporary, and maxes out their last credit card on wardrobe and hair dye and wishes and dreams. For Joe, it's the last straw in a marriage that once seemed star-crossed and now seems simply unworkable.

Pushed to figure out what to do next, Joe simply takes off hitchhiking, leaving Laurie waiting for Joe, and Joe wondering how he will ever find meaning in a world that has disappointed his every expectation. The road for both of them provides surprising answers...

Genres: Canada, Fiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published September 14, 2010

About the author

Sandra Louise Birdsell (née Bartlette) is a Canadian novelist and short story writer of Métis and Mennonite heritage.

Sandra is the fifth of eleven children. She lived most of her life in Morris, Manitoba and now in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Sandra left home at age fifteen. At the age of thirty-five, she enrolled in Creative Writing at the University Of Winnipeg. Five years later, Turnstone Press published her first book, the “Night Travellers” and two years after, “Ladies Of The House”. Both are published in one volume as Agassiz stories.

Two events shaped her worldview and influenced her writing, the first when Sandra was six years-old. Her sister died from leukemia. That left a four year gap before her next older sister. She felt alone even surrounded by 9 siblings. Her loneliness led her to ponder nearby parks and rivers, allowing her imagination to be wild.

The second event was the massive flood of Morris in 1950. Her first three successful stories in “Night Travellers” are based on it.

She is a Mom of three children and Grandma to four. Her husband, Jan Zarzycki is a filmmaker.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waiting for Joe by Sandra Birdsell. This is an emotional book by a Canadian author. The characters feel so real. The book is a picture into a time in Joe and Laurie's life, shortly after their lives start to fall apart. They are on the run in a stolen motorhome, after losing everything when Joe's business fails and they lose everything.

The book alternates between Joe, Laurie and Joe's dad Alfred. Not only do you get to see their present, you also glimpse most of their lives up to that point.

The book is a solid read, 5 star, up until the end. I felt the ending left too many questions unanswered. If there was even a one page summary of where everyone is at the end of the story, it would be much more complete.

[Christy Stef · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terrific descriptions of Canadian cities and lifestyles. The story is about a couple dealing with bankruptcy and elder care, and struggling with their relationship. It’s a realistic portrayal of real life with believable and flawed characters. It can be a little long in parts with self-reflection a bit focus, but it’s enjoyable overall.

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I'm just missing something. This book started off so promising: Joe and his wife are stranded in a Walmart parking lot with no money to go any further. OK, that could be interesting. She's a spendthrift, he's an idiot of a businessman, they both need a new start. But... The book just goes off in so many directions, and at the very end, there is a weird Epilogue that tells me nothing about what happened. Again, I guess I'm just missing something.

[Marisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really disappointed in the story and the characters, a DO NOT READ moment came over me but once I start I have to finish, and there again what a disappointment to read that after 5 yrs there's no closure.....I recommend to not read this book.

[Jan Nz · Rating 5 out of 5]

book for mentally grown-up readers, doesn't pull punches, a profound book for our times

[Abcdarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was going along with occasional segments of interest & then suddenly there's a very short chapter set 5 years later & things are unsatisfyingly chopped off.

[Knitter · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a slow starter, then got a little more interesting. I wasn't enamoured of the ending, though. I feel as though very little was actually dealt with head-on or resolved.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, Birdsell's prose requires the analogy of painting to adequately describe it. Her brush strokes are both bold and precise, vivid and piercing; her composition somehow enters the eye of the beholder as much as much as the hand of the painter. Her story is as powerful as Waiting for Godot but crammed with twists that surprises that delight as much as wrench. It well deserved its GG award finalist status.

[Margaret Pillay · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has a plot that I found to be mediocre, which was surprising to me as I know that many love Sandra Birdsell's writing. The plot starts with a couple who are living in a camper in the parking lot of Walmart, and then reaches back in time and then forward to an unsatisfactory conclusion.

[Heather(Gibby) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I was very frustrated at the characters choices in this novel, I loved it nonetheless. It only has a loose plot, but is more about relationships and what goes on inside a person to determine who they become.

[Denise · Rating 1 out of 5]

Underwhelming...

[Terri · Rating 2 out of 5]

not to bad, but a little confusing as it goes back and forth.

[Zoom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Kind of boring. It touched on a lot of things but it never really went anywhere. It lacked direction and it lacked a storyline.

[Eleanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half. Well developed characters but the ending fell short .

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joe Beaudry's RV business has gone bust and so he and his wife Laurie sell everything and hit the road, driving from Winnipeg to Regina before parking their motorhome in the lot next to WalMart. Joe has told Laurie they will go to Fort McMurray, where he will get work. But they never make it that far. The truth is that Joe doesn't know what he wants to do and doesn't know if Laurie even figures in his half-formed, ever-changing plans. He has not shared these doubts with his wife, who also doesn't know that the motorhome is stolen, that Joe drove it off the RV lot before the new owner was in a position to know the difference. Plagued by self doubt, terrified of an uncertain future and fleeing a past in which he has repeatedly made poor choices and disappointed those he loves, Joe takes off, leaving Laurie waiting for him in Regina while he hitchhikes to Vancouver to seek out some old friends he thinks might be able to save him. Birdsell's novel is a suspenseful and brutally honest examination of how life forces us to compromise and conveys the harsh message that in the final analysis we must lay sole claim to our flaws and failures. Brilliant and unsentimental.

[Lisa Guenther · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started to read this novel to break up my slog through Henry Miller's Tropic of Capricorn. But ultimately this novel was way more interesting, so I got hooked and powered right through it.

Joe and Laurie are facing bankruptcy. Neither is entirely honest with the other - both have had affairs, and both hide other things (Laurie her spending, Joe the direness of their financial situation). You really get the sense that that lack of communication has made their situation much worse.

There is also a sense of fate, or destiny, almost, in this novel. Joe's mother drowns trying to save Laurie's mother, and so they seem like star-crossed lovers. And there is an accident scene on the Trans-Canada highway, between Calgary and Brooks, that had me contemplating the idea of destiny.

Despite their flaws, I found myself rooting for Joe and Laurie. They were good people who just didn't seem able to work through their own complex histories.And Joe's father, Albert, is a really fine character. You'll love him.

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is raw story-telling of lives that are unfortunate but believable. There are many vignettes of disadvantaged people in pathetic situations. There are also elements of black comedy, for example, the shoppers in a consignment clothing store. I felt sorry for both of the main characters, given aspects of their childhood circumstances, but ultimately I was disappointed that they seemed unable to overcome difficulties in their adult lives.
I bought this book in the "local authors" section of a bookstore in Winnipeg, where I grew up. When I mentioned the book to one of my friends who had also lived for awhile in a Canadian prairie city, it prompted a discussion of the term "boondocking" in reference to RVs camping overnight with no charge in shopping mall parking lots. I had not heard the term before then, except that my mother had often used the phrase "out in the boondocks".

[Carol Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally rated this as "liked" but after 24 hours, with the characters still milling around in my brain, I'm changing it to "really liked". The main characters, Joe and Laurie, are so humanly flawed, and unlike characters in some other novels, I had sympathy for them even when they made decisions that, in understatement, were "ill-advised". Some of the other characters, many of whom were Metis or First Nation, are also very believable and poignant in their situations. This novel is like a slow cooker--it takes time for the taste and smell of it to percolate through, but when it does, it's delicious.

[Janice Kenefick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waiting for Joe by Sandra Birdsell. An enjoyable read - I couldn't put it down for long. It alternates between the past and present of protagonist Joe whose RV business has gone bankrupt, his wife Laurie and his father Alfred. By the end of the book, I understand how they got to their present situation and how they will try to cope. The ending isn't clear as it skips five years into the future. I would like to have known what happened in those years. The author does summarize but too brief!

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I never like to leave a book unfinished but this was pure agnony. The main characters were so weak, the third person narrative absolutely devoid of any emotion and what the heck was the ending all about??? Yuck!

[Carmen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this up because it was on a "best of 2010" list but quickly realized it was not my cup of tea. Unlikeable characters and I think the word "penis" was used far too early on for it to be anything other than unsettling. No thanks.

[Genni Gunn]

I found all the characters strangely passive, given their circumstances.

[Luise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vaguely depressing, easily forgettable. It must have kept my interest - I did finish it.

[Pooker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christmas Booty!

Review to follow (I hope).

[Janet Berkman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Engaging story that pulls you in as you get to know each of the narrators better. But I agree with other reviewers... the ending is abrupt and unsatisfying.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started slow but eventually drew me in. I like this author.

[Nancy Moffett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book, although I didn't like most of the characters. It could have been depressing, but it ended up a little hopeful - thanks Sandra!

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book that keeps you guessing about the outcome.

[Debi Lawrence]

I didn't really like it.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book by an excellent Canadian writer and quite heart wrenching throughout!