That Time I Loved You: Stories Hardcover -

From the rear cover

For the neighbours in a brand new subdivision, secrets, longing and madness simmer beneath the bright surface in a new book by the author of the Toronto Book Award-shortlisted The Wondrous Woo

The suburbs of the 1970s promised to be heaven on earth--new houses, new status, happiness guaranteed. But in a Scarborough subdivision populated by newcomers from all over the world, a series of sudden catastrophic events reveals that not everyone's dreams come true. Moving from house to house, Carrianne Leung explores the inner lives behind the tidy front gardens and picture-perfect windows, from Francesca, the newlywed increasingly obsessed with the glamorous couple next door, to the isolated Mrs. Da Silva, continually insulted by the flowers in her garden until she is driven to a final terrible act, to Darren, a boy urged by his Jamaican-born mother to keep his head down while his dreams continue to soar, to June, an irrepressible adolescent Chinese Canadian girl coming of age in this shifting world. Through the linked stories of June and her neighbours, Leung depicts the fine line where childhood meets the realities of adult life and examines how difficult it is to be true to ourselves at any age.

Media reviews

Citations

• Booklist, 12/01/2018, Page 26
• Kirkus Reviews, 11/15/2018, Page 132
• Publishers Weekly, 12/03/2018, Page 0
• Shelf Awareness, 02/26/2019, Page 0