Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Top ten grandmothers in fiction

At the Guardian, Jenny Downham tagged her ten top grandmothers in fiction, including:
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Funny, wise and complex, this novel tells the story of bright 14-year-old Junior, who lives on the Spokane Indian reservation with his alcoholic parents. He has water on the brain, ten teeth too many, a lisp and a stutter and is regularly beaten up by bullies. His family are so poor they often don’t eat. But, despite knowing he’ll become an outcast in his own community, Junior leaves to attend the rich white school miles away.

His grandma (nicknamed Grandmother Spirit) isn’t in the book that much, but she is Junior’s role model – extremely tolerant, loving and a source of advice and support. When she dies, Junior tells us, “My grandmother’s last act on earth was a call for forgiveness, love, and tolerance”. Grandmothers don’t come much wiser than that.
Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue