Tilly and the Crazy Eights
By: Monique Gray Smith / Narrated By: Michelle Thrush
Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
What a surprise! What a real pleasure!
I dunno what I was expecting when I picked up Tilly and the Crazy Eights on sale over on Kobo—I s’pose after seeing that it was a road trip with Elders, I kinda got it into my head that it was going to be over the top like Return of the Bones or something, remonstrations and life lessons, and probably pretty serious.
Uhm, how can I say that this turned into a road trip of laughter, light, love, and thanksgiving!
Indeed, even tho’ this audiobook takes place in a different time of year, Thanksgiving is prevalent throughout it, and this should be added to our Gratitude section for our Thanksgiving Special Occasion page. Cuz even tho’ all our characters go through some rough, some tumble, some anxiety, some grief? When they find themselves alone in prayer, or gathered together in prayer, it all starts the same: They give thanks just for being right where they are. Oh this woulda been a GRAND Listen to add to this year’s Thanksgiving!
It opens in British Columbia with the older ladies of the Stitch ‘n’ Bitch. Sarah is a survivor of cancer and chemo, but lately she’s just not feeling right. She knows her time on this planet is limited, and tho’ she doesn’t wish to share her fears, she DOES wanna get on with the better parts of life, of maybe getting down to the Bucket List. For her that means being at the Gathering of Nations Pow-Wow in Albuquerque USA—she wants to dance! The other ladies of their group are enchanted and excited; after all, they each have adventures they’d like to have themselves and soon young-ish Tilly is hooked into sharing driving duties with Mabel (Who would dearly love to spread the ashes of her sister in Sedona, AZ) and into joining these Elders (A couple of husbands/ex-husbands round out the group).
At first I thought I was going to do the Gillian Is A Martyr thing for over 9 hours cuz narrator Michelle Thrush imMEDiately throws it on pretty gosh darn thickly. As in, for instance, the exuberant Lucy is soooo shrill when she shrieks her excitement and needles and goads everyone. I thought my ears were going to bleed. Plus, I thought I’d be dinging Thrush for excessive vocal gyrations as she began to give each character enTIREly different voices. But danged if they didn’t all stand out as themselves as the story grew, and danged if Thrush didn’t make me love even the over-exuberant Lucy as it all went on. And when we get to Tilly getting oooooh soooo near making a god awfully dumb mistake, the performance really shines, and Thrush captures and vividly conveys a woman in pain as she confronts herself… in a way that’ll make you laugh.
That’s what’s so delightful about this audiobook: There’s a great amount of pain and suffering (EsPECially as each of these Elders have horrific memories of all SORTS of abuse during their years at Residential schools!), and there’s just the pain and suffering that comes from everyday life with its many losses, its many heartbreaks. But these characters, as they’re in close confinement with each other, as they share hearts’ desires and cross items from each Bucket List, they become closer than family. And Tilly, who’s lost her way, who’s living a sort of half-life, is taught and cared for by these Elders. It’s funny, and it’s touching, and when sisters Sarah and Ann share what holding onto pain has done to them? How Sarah gave herself to abuse in order to spare Ann, but wound up not being able to save her despite it all? It’s downright tear-jerking also!
Seriously, I’d been wallowing in rising Covid numbers, continued electoral mayhem, and a socially-distanced Thanksgiving, so I guess I was more down in the dumps than I realized as this little gem lifted me oh so RIGHT up! It’s not perfect, but it was just what I needed!
I reeeeeally needed something to teach me: When you’re in turmoil, and you begin a prayer… ALWAYS start by giving thanks for being right where you are…
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