The Second Wedding of Doctor Geneva Song
- Publisher
- Libros Libertad
- Initial publish date
- Oct 2011
- Category
- Literary
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781926763170
- Publish Date
- Oct 2011
- List Price
- $20.00
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About the author
Born in New York City in 1947, Robert N. Friedland has been the Sheriff of a Judicial District; an investigator for the United States Treasury Department; a Regional Director of the Alberta Human Rights Commission; Human Rights Advisor for Malaspina University-College; a two-term City Councillor in Victoria, British Columbia; and, Chief Lawyer for a group of seven First Nations in the Interior of British Columbia. He currently practices human rights and administrative law in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is a widely published commentator on the international, Canadian, and British Columbian political scene. His stories and short fiction have been published in the United States, Canada, England, and Japan in: The Fiddlehead (Canada); NeWest Review (Canada); CBC Radio,(Alberta Anthology, Edmonton On Stage, Vinyl Cafe); Raw Fiction (Canada); Stand (United Kingdom); The Petroleum Independent (U.S.A.); Entre Nous (U.S.A.); The Casper Journal (U.S.A.); The Abiko Literary Quarterly (Japan); CITR FM, the University of British Columbia's FM radio station (Canada); and, The Broadkill Review (U.S.A.).
Excerpt: The Second Wedding of Doctor Geneva Song (by (author) Bob Friedland)
Doctor Geneva Song's two aunties sat in honoured seats at the Chinese wedding ceremony and chattered away in voices too loud because they were both, more or less, deaf. They were the older sisters of Geneva Song's mother. The eldest sister, "Comes a Little Brother", or Auntie Ruth, had never emigrated from Hong Kong, but had flown into Calgary for the wedding. The middle sister, "Hopes for a Little Brother", or Auntie Leah, had moved to Calgary twenty years before, but had never learned to speak English very well. Calgary was where Geneva's father, Malcolm Song, had made his enormous fortune. What the middle sister was explaining to her older sister was why on earth Geneva had decided to marry a man almost thirty years older. To be fair, it was a question that was on the minds of many, if not most, of the wedding guests. "He's a lawyer," the middle sister said, pointing to the, "Esq." after Sam Victor's name on the wedding invitation, "That's what the 'Es-Ka.' means". "Es-Ka?" asked the older sister, not comprehending the meaning of the word. The middle sister then explained that, despite appearances, Geneva had not gotten fat, but was three months heavy with twin boys. This new information silenced the older sister for several minutes.
Editorial Reviews
The Second Wedding of Doctor Geneva Song is like a fine red wine: complex, surprising, satisfying, leaving you wanting for more. Friedland's prose is quietly poetic and his narrative voice subtle and hypnotic. The story is at once otherworldly yet as familiar your own image in the mirror.
Reed Farrel Coleman