The Figgs

The Figgs

Ali Bryan

Fiction / Contemporary / Cultural

Meet the Figgs. June, the family's matriarch, looks forward to a quiet retirement – if only she can get her three adult children to finally, finally, move out of the house. But her dreams are shattered when her son Derek unexpectedly becomes a single father. Now there's a newborn baby at home, and Derek's older siblings are showing no sign of going anywhere either. In the midst of the chaos, June's husband, Randy, has a shocking revelation. With family life flying fast and furious around her, June finds herself thinking about her parents – adoptive and biological. Where did she come from? Will her new grandson be traumatized without his mother? And why in the world are all the kids still at home, anyway? The Figgs combines the quirkiness of Miriam Toews, the startling humour and fierce energy of Heather O'Neill, the heart of Little Miss Sunshine, and the unruly family dynamics of Jonathan Tropper's This Is Where I Leave You into one hilarious, immensely fun novel.
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Coq

Coq

Ali Bryan

Fiction / Contemporary / Cultural

From Leacock finalist Ali Bryan, a witty and immensely fun dramedy about a family's memorial trip to the City of Love, where chaos ensues at every turn.It's been ten years since Claudia's mother died after a tragic collision with a banana boat. Her kids are now teenagers, her brother's wife has left him, and her ex has had a spiritual awakening that has him hinting at reconciliation — all things she can handle.But when her septuagenarian father decides to remarry after a brief courtship with a woman who is decidedly different than their mother, the entire family is thrown off course, and plans a long overdue memorial trip to the only place their mother ever dreamed of going: Paris. However, minutes after take-off, the trip takes an unpredictable turn and sets off a chain of events that threatens to derail the closure the family desperately seeks.Chance meetings, poolside confessions, run-ins with mimes, climate protests, and a man with a...
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Roost

Roost

Ali Bryan

Fiction / Contemporary / Cultural

Claudia, single mom of two, pines for her past independent life. Her ex, after all, has moved on to a new wardrobe, new hobbies and—worst of all—new adult friends. But in Claudia's house she's still finding bananas in the sock drawer, cigarettes taped to wrestling figures, and colourful doodles on her MasterCard bills. Then Claudia receives the unexpected news that her mother has died. Shared through the hilarious, honest, and often poignant perspective of a single mother, Roost is the story of a woman learning about motherhood while grieving the loss of her own mother. And as she begins to mend, she's also learning that she might be able to accept her home—even as it is.
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