Divisadero

Rainy, cold, and dreary: the perfect day for curling up with some tea and a novel: Michael Ondaatje is one of my favourite writers and I've been waiting for five months (since it was published in Canada) for this book to come out in the UK, which it finally did last week. On a whim, I checked the six London library systems to which I belong, doubting that any of them would have the book yet, but I was very happy to find that Islington library had exactly one copy in its system, currently on the shelf, at a branch very close to home! After I got over being disappointed that they had only ordered one copy, I rushed down to the branch to get the book. With such high expectations, the likelihood of disappointment looms, but one benefit of being in London is that I've managed to escape the onslaught of reviews and plot giveaways that seem to accompany an Ondaatje publication in Canada. And if I do end up being disappointed (as I was with 2002's Anil's Ghost), I can always get a copy of In the Skin of a Lion from the library and reread that--it's still one of my favourite novels--beautifully written, with evocative situations and wonderfully flawed characters seeking redemption and belonging as they move through the city of Toronto like it's never been seen in literature--ah, but where was I? Oh, yes, Divisadero . . .