Russell insists on finding etta, wherever shes gone. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading etta and otto and russell and james. It reminded me somewhat of cloudstreet by tim winton. Read etta and otto and russell and james a novel by emma hooper available from rakuten kobo. The novel opens with 82yearold etta leaving her saskatchewan. In emma hoopers novel etta and otto and russell and james, an octogenarian leaves her husband to visit the ocean, a journey that leaves her reflecting on earlier traumas.
One day during their childhood years, alma impressed her little sister etta with a display of whitened fish bones, which etta found strikingly beautiful. As etta walks toward the ocean accompanied by a coyote named james memory, illusion, and reality blur. Etta and otto and russell and james is a story that nods in recognition of love, memory, sacrifice, and the human cost of war. Glynis elliott this novel was beautifully written, quite lyrical in fact. As hoopers shifting narrative opens, now83yearold etta awakens, intending to walk to canadas east coast, leaving a brief note for her husband, otto. Some fucking husband, he spits at his former friend before heading out to try and track her down. Etta and otto and russell and james by emma hooper is incredibly moving, beautifully written and luminous with wisdom. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. She leaves a note for her husband otto explaining that, ive never seen the water. Dont dismiss emma hoopers debut novel as just book club writing. Etta and otto and russell and james was fought over by five publishers and eventually sold for a reported sixfigure sum.
In the note she explains that she has never seen the ocean so is on her way there. The excitement comes from its now highly bankable quirky, offbeat charm. In this haunting debut, set in a starkly beautiful landscape, hooper delineates the stories of etta and the men. Emma hoopers etta and otto and russell and james is a stunning debut that will make even a reader made of stone cry. Russell has spent his whole life trying to keep up with otto and loving etta from afar. Emma hooper, etta and otto and russell and james haleyincarnate.
Emma hoopers etta and otto and russell and james is a. Read an excerpt from etta and otto and russell and james plus new work from three more authors, including kim echlin. This is all the more unfortunate given that almas death is one of the few places where etta and otto and russell and james strikes a genuinely emotional chord. Etta and otto and russell and james is the debut novel by author emma hooper, who divides her time between a number of artistic and academic endeavours that feed and inspire each other. Moving from the hot and dry present of a quiet canadian farm to a dusty, burnt past of hunger, war, and passion, from trying to remember to trying to forget, etta and otto and russell and james is an astounding literary debut of deep longing, for reinvention and selfdiscovery, as well as for the past and for love and for the boundless unknown san francisco chronicle. Russell, ettas former lover, hits the road hoping to join her but detours north into a journey of his own. Etta and otto and russell and james reading group guide. Moving from the hot and dry present of a quiet canadian farm to a dusty, burnt past of hunger, war, and passion, from trying to remember to trying to forget, etta and otto and russell and james is an astounding literary debut about friendship and love, hope and honor, and the romance of last great adventures. Hoopers debut novel, the story is told via complex imagery and poetic. Etta and otto and russell and james by emma hooper book.
When etta takes off, he confronts otto, demanding to know why he hasnt gone after her. No explanation is ever volunteered, except that shes never seen the water. Etta and otto and russell and james quill and quire. Etta gloria kinnick, an octogenarian, sets off on a mammoth trek across canada. Etta and otto and russell and james book by emma hooper. Etta, daughter of a newspaper editor, became their schoolteacher, despite her tender years, taught otto to write and russell to dance. Immediately download the etta and otto and russell and james summary, chapterbychapter analysis, book notes, essays, quotes, character descriptions, lesson plans, and more everything you need for studying or teaching etta and otto and russell and james. She hasnt taken the truck, she explains, shell walk. At the beginning of the book we meet octogenarian otto who finds a note from his wife etta, which says she has left to see the. Etta and otto and russell and james, by emma hooper financial. Etta and otto and russell and james is incredibly moving, beautifully written and luminous with wisdom. Etta and otto and russell and james by emma hooper fairytale.
But when i do, it is the level of uglycry devastation that becomes. Etta is an elderly woman slipping into the twilight of dementia who sets out on foot from her saskatchewan farm on a pilgrimage east to the sea. Etta and otto and russell and james by emma hooper. Her novel, etta and otto and russell and james is a dazzler, and im honored to host her here.
Etta and otto and russell and james summary supersummary. Etta and otto and russell and james by emma hooper this poetic, poignant us weekly debut features last great adventures, unlikely heroes, and a sweet. Dallas morning news a bit like a fairy tale, etta and otto and russell and james is whimsical, even magical. Stream and download audiobooks to your computer, tablet or mobile phone. Emma hooper talks about etta and otto and russell and james, and so much more not only has emma hooper written a sparklingly original novel, but she is also a musician who performs as a solo artist in the hilariously named waitress for the bees. In other words, this is a tale of magical realism, where the world is not so much portrayed as it is, as portrayed as it might be or as it could be. Etta and otto and russell and james is a novel by emma hooper, published in 2015.
As a musician, her solo project waitress for the bees tours internationally and has earned her a finnish cultural knighthood. One of the teachers was etta, no older than otto and russell. He gets up early one morning in his windswept saskatchewan farm to discover a note from his wife, etta. Rocking back and forth with the pull of the waves, etta and otto and russell and james moves from the hot and dry present of a quiet canadian farm to a. Etta wanted babies and stability otto, from a copious family of 15 children, seemed a more likely candidate for the job than impaired onlychild russell. Its clear to both of them that etta s mind is going and otto s body wont last much longer. She will try to return, but has never seen water and has gone to the ocean. Though hooper threads some unusual elements through her narrative, those who seek comfort in quiet poeticism and timeless themes need look no further. It vacillates between the stylistic extremes of minimalism and magic realism and, more so than harold fry, relies on the interplay between past and present, with flashbacks to ettas and ottos childhoods as well as to ottos war service. Otto, on the other hand, is plagued by what he cant forget. Etta and otto and russell and james by emma hooper fairytale friendships and the great outdoors canadas prairie life is vividly rendered in a fablelike quest to see the sea emily st john.
Pirouetting seamlessly through time and viewpoints, best friends otto and russell and their shared love of etta slowly unearth a. Get ready for another first from the edmonton public library. Buy etta and otto and russell and james by emma hooper isbn. Etta and otto and russell and james jaquo lifestyle magazine. Emma hooper talks about etta and otto and russell and. As etta walks further toward the ocean, accompanied by a coyote named james, the lines among memory, illusion, and reality blur. Emma hoopers etta and otto and russell and james is a stunning. Etta and otto and russell and james by emma hooper goodreads. It is a book that restores ones faith in life even as it deepens its mystery. James, from the title etta and otto and russell and james, is a talking coyote there cant be very many books featuring a talking coyote. Zalerts allow you to be notified by email about the availability of new books according to your search query. This poetic, poignant us weekly debut features last great adventures, unlikely heroes, and a sweet, disarming story. Like the gentle undulation of waves, etta and otto and russell and james moves from a past filled with of hunger, war, passion, and hope to a present of quiet industry and peaceful communion. Etta and otto and russell and james reading group guide about the book otto vogel wakes before dawn on his farm in central canada to find a letter from his wife etta.
Edmonton public library launches free, online, citywide. One book one edmonton is a citywide, online book club. So even though i wanted to try etta and otto and russell and james, i was a bit nervous, afraid to find too much of the same. New books by emma hooper, quan barry and dimitry elias.
Etta and otto and russell and james quotes by emma hooper. Etta and otto and russell and james would be a delightful and fruitful choice for book clubs. In etta and otto and russell and james, emma hoopers intriguing debut novel, a woman. Leaving his own farm will be the first act of defiance in his life. As the narrative progresses, however, and both etta and otto approach the end of their respective journeys, the prose becomes increasingly spare and impressionistic. In her 80s, and starting to lose her mind at times, etta has never seen the ocean. Buy a cheap copy of etta and otto and russell and james book by emma hooper. Etta and otto and russell and james by emma hooper fictiondb. Etta and otto, the first two characters in the title of emma hoopers debut novel, are a childless, elderly couple from rural saskatchewan. Etta and otto and russell and james by emma hooper fairytale friendships and the great outdoors. As the lines blur between ettas and ottos memories, and even between their physical bodies, readers emerge with a deeper appreciation for life and for its suffering against its backdrop of majesty. Orphaned russell came to live with his uncle and aunt next door. Equally mysteriously, otto knows from the tightness in the skin.