"Irma Voth" by Miriam Toews

Irma (19, married at 18 to Jorge who's not around) lives in a Mennonite community near/in Mexico. Her father's strict. Jorge is strict when it suits him. Her father's parents were killed in Europe. He escaped to Canada. She has a sister, Aggie, 14, who wants to live with her. When Irma was 13 she thought she was dead. She was sent to a doctor. Her mother told her "Just begin". A film director, Diego, arrives, asking her to be an interpreter. He knows that the Mennonites are against images, but he wants to record their culture before it disappears.

Jorge returns briefly. There's tension between them. She's agreed to do cooking for the film crew. She offers Wilson sex. He agrees - he has a terminal illness. She saves drugged Aggie from the film crew. Her father beats her all the same. The father threatens to disrupt the filming.

Jorge's been stashing drugs for someone. She sells the drugs. She and Aggie leave in the film-crew's van, dropping into their mother. She's just had a child! The mother tells them to take the baby with them. They leave for the airport, bluffing their way to Mexico. At a big public protest (clowns and unicycles) she befriends Naomi who's with friends - students. Aggie's had her first period. They're run out of money. The students have heard of the film director. They're given a room in the hotel of one of Naomi's relations in exchange for wprk. They settle down. Aggie goes to school. Irma starts looking at artistic opportunities. She tells Aggie that she's told their father that their sister Katie was leaving, which led to their father killing Katie. She watches Diego's film. In a Q&A session after he reveals that Jorge was killed (by someone asking for his drugs back). Irma feels guilty that she's caused 2 deaths. She flies back to her village, watches her parents' house from a distance, then goes in and says hello.

I like "Waving her arms like a shipwrecked survivor", but I think I've seen it before

Other reviews

• Rachel Shabi
• Susana Olague Trapani (Irma and Aggie’s relationship infuses Irma Voth with the heart needed to supplement Toews’ pithy and clever prose. Not only dealing with parent-child relationships, Toews also offers a touching and fully developed sisterhood, filled with cutting remarks, petty arguments, the turning of a blind eye when necessary and, most importantly, deep affection. ... Irma Voth is not without fault. It is difficult to believe that Irma and Aggie would not encounter harassment or questionable characters once Irma removes Aggie from her father’s reach and they move into the larger world. Yet, in this book, it seems that everyone outside the Mennonite community is nothing but kind and helpful.)
• Kirkus Reviews (A literary novel marked by charm, wit and an original approach to language, weakened by polarized characters and a shift from gritty to soft-centered. )