Semi-Detached

by Elizabeth Ruth

Cormorant Books

Semi-Detached

by Elizabeth Ruth

Cormorant Books

Acclaimed author Elizabeth Ruth explores what happens when hearts freeze and begin to thaw.

In December 2013, an ice storm echoing one that took place seventy years earlier buries the city where realtor Laura Keys is preparing to sell a semi-detached house for the comatose homeowner. Hanging around the house and wanting inside is a teenage girl with a Scottish terrier tucked into her coat. As Laura prepares the house for showing and sale, she uncovers more about its owner, Eddie (Edna Ferguson) and Eddie’s ill-fated relationship with her boss’s daughter in 1944. Meanwhile, Laura is also navigating the fate of her own relationship with her wife Catalina (Cat), which has been buckling under the weight of Laura’s infertility. Can Laura piece together the teen’s connection to the house and save her marriage at the same time? Or will everything change?

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This book may also be available at the TIFA Festival Bookstore.

Elizabeth Ruth is the author of the novels, Ten Good Seconds of Silence, Smoke, Matadora and Semi-Detached. Her debut poetry collection, This Report Is Strictly Confidential, is forthcoming in 2024. Elizabeth's work has been recognized by the Writers’ Trust of Canada Fiction Prize, the City of Toronto Book Award, the Amazon.ca First Novel Award and One Book One Community. CBC named her “One of the Ten Canadian Women Writers You Must Read.” She is also the author of a plain language novella for adult literacy learners entitled Love You to Death and the editor of the anthology Bent on Writing: Contemporary Queer Tales. Before publishing, Elizabeth worked with homeless women and children, counselling in the areas of violence, trauma and recovery. She holds a BA in English Literature, an MA in Counselling Psychology, and an MFA in Creative Writing. Elizabeth Ruth teaches creative writing at the University of Toronto and lives in the city with her family.

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