I Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes

To find out more about the writer of I Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes, I logged onto Jaclyn Moriarty’s blog (www.jaclynmoriarty.blogspot.com). It’s not a particularly innovative blog, but it is a tad dramatic, specifically because of a single comment posted after the writer’s final entry: “Jaci. I’m so sad to find out I knew so little about you. I miss you, please talk to me. Nic.” How odd. Like Moriarty’s blog, this book is not particularly special but it’s intriguing. It’s been heralded as a fairytale for adults and despite its 425-page length, it’s a light read because of the author’s easy command of language. The story revolves around a narrative interweaving the stories of five young to middle-aged Australian women and the “Zing family secret.” Moriarty’s great strength as a writer is her ability to describe wry moments like, “In conversations with boys who might become friends, Cath liked to joke around a bit, maybe even flirt, but she had noticed that boys grew wary, and a found a way to mention, ‘my girlfriend’.” This leaves Cath feeling irritated, put in her place and wanting to explain: “I’m not making a move, I’m just making friends.” Ultimately, what drove me to finish this rather long book was to discover the mysterious Zing family secret and correlate how all of the characters are significant to one another. I won’t give away the worthwhile ending, but the last page of the book has a list of acknowledgements. One person Jaclyn thanks is her sister, Nicola… is she Nic? Like the book, it made me wonder. (Erin Kobayashi)

by Jaclyn Moriarty, $24.95, 425 pgs, Anansi, 110 Spadina Avenue, Suite 801, Toronto, ON, M5V 2K4, anansi.com