Little Fish by Casey Plett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
By far one of the best books I’ve read in a while. I live on Arlington and Portage, lived on Wolseley and Sherbrook, lived on Ellice and Maryland. This book takes place in my neighborhoods, in my bars, in my shops. Everything about this book is Winnipeg wintertime. The alcoholism, the sadness, the dread, the doom, the friends, oh my gosh the friends. This book was a wonderful, multi-leveled, and complex love story to the beauty and ugliness of Winnipeg, and to Wendy’s experience. It wasn’t melodramatic or overstated, everything went by fast and dreamily. Life was ugly, life was sad, but also she laughed and dreamed. I truly loved it and Wendy is someone I feel like I know, or at least should know.
I don’t think I could get closer to be inside a trans-woman than through this book. I am so happy it was written and my understanding of the experiences of trans woman has been greatly expanded. I will be recommending this book to everyone. Plett articulated sadness and the quickness of life so perfectly. I felt so heard. It’s a very sad book and I cried a few times, but it’s also not a sad bok? It’s just a book about a life, and a month in one person’s life. It feels like a happy ending, it feels nice. It’s one of the stories that is undeniably sad and heartbreaking, but also not because it’s truth and it’s resilient (even though I hate that word… it’s true). It’s a story of existence. Winnipeg exsistence. I’m really happy I read it.
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