The Western Alienation Merit Badge, Nancy Jo Cullen
The Western Alienation Merit Badge, Nancy Jo Cullen
List: $21.99 | Sale: $15.39
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The Western Alienation Merit Badge
A Novel

Author: Nancy Jo Cullen

Narrator: Saffron Henderson

Unabridged: 5 hr 4 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: ECW Press

Published: 11/23/2019


Synopsis

Set in Calgary in 1982, during the recession that arrived on the heels of Canada’s National Energy Program, The Western Alienation Merit Badge follows the Murray family as they struggle with grief and find themselves on the brink of financial ruin. After the death of her stepmother, Frances “Frankie” Murray returns to Calgary to help her father, Jimmy, and her sister, Bernadette, pay the mortgage on the family home. When Robyn, a long-lost friend, becomes their house guest old tensions are reignited and Jimmy, Bernadette and Frances find themselves increasingly alienated from one another. Part family drama, part queer coming-of-age story, The Western Alienation Merit Badge explores the complex dynamics of a small family falling apart. Bespeak Audio Editions brings Canadian voices to the world with audiobook editions of some of the country’s greatest works of literature, performed by Canadian actors.

Reviews

Such an incredible book! A family saga, snapshot of growing up in Calgary in the 70s, coming back home in the 80s & then in the 2010s, and a queer coming of age story. The characters--two sisters Bernadette and Frances, their dad (who lost two wives 😥), and Frankie's childhood friend--are achingly r......more

Goodreads review by Oriana

This was a sweet, often sorrowful, short family drama, a queer coming-of-age story, and an often rough look at an untethered family helping and (more often) hurting each other in their grief. It takes place in Calgary in the '70s and follows a dad who has just buried his second wife and is attemptin......more

Goodreads review by Daniel

The final chapters are (in my opinion) in the wrong place. I understand what they're trying to illustrate, but it gives the ending of the book less of a definitive conclusion and more of a disjointed throwback. But it's about the only thing in the book that bothers me...otherwise, this is a dark, tr......more