Review of Higher Ed by Tessa McWatt

Higher Ed

In Tessa McWatt’s latest novel Higher Ed there are no clear winners among the cast of characters we are introduced to, but they are not all losers either.

The author has created a line up of mostly flawed individuals coming to terms with what life has handed them in contrast to what they think they deserve. McWatt exposes the minutia of their sometimes drab, ordinary and oh so believable daily lives and inner thoughts. This book is about people coming to terms with loss and change and figuring out who they really are and what they believe in, while still maintaining enough hope and will to continue. If that sounds all too heavy, you’ll be suprised. The author pulled me in with her humour and ability to show how simple our human needs are through her character’s behaviour and self-talk.

I began to love and cheer on many of McWatt’s characters- Francine, Katrin, Robin, Olivia, Ed and Catharine. I came to see them as “real” people and occasionally felt like a voyeur as I listened to their inner dialogue and watched and walked with them through their day. We get many opportunities to get to know intimately, the worlds each of these characters inhabits. We begin to develop a relationship with them; see through their eyes and hear the conversations “in their heads”, at home alone or standing in the line up for coffee. Sometimes, it felt so personal, I had to look away.

I believe Tessa Mcwatt is encouraging readers to examine some of their own beliefs about the people who pass through their lives on a daily basis, yet remain unknown. We often underestimate the rich, complicated, lives of strangers.

McWatt’s book encourages us also; to think about the shared need we have for some form of intimacy, relationships, understanding and acceptance from those around us, “warts and all.” She shows us too, what it might feel like to be a new immigrant in a country, feeling displaced and on the outside looking in trying to decode and understand the actions and expectations of the locals.

I was excited to learn that Tessa McWatt will present at the 2015 Spur Festival in Calgary, Saturday April 25. How perfect is that? To have chosen this Wordfest author to review knowing nothing about her and then to discover I can listen to her discuss her book in person! Thanks Wordfest!

Reviewed by Rita Gore

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