"Min was stranded in her bed, hooked on the blue torpedoes and convinced that a million silver cars were closing in on her (I didn't know what Thebes meant either), Logan was in trouble at school, something about the disturbing stories he was writing, Thebes was pretending to be Min on the phone with his principal, the house was crumbling around them, the black screen door had blown off in the wind, a family of aggressive mice was living behind the piano, the neighbours were pissed off because of hatchets being thrown into their yard at night (again, confusing, something to do with Logan) … basically, things were out of control. And Thebes is only eleven."
–from The Flying Troutmans

Days after being dumped by her boyfriend Marc in Paris – "he was heading off to an ashram and said we could communicate telepathically" – Hattie hears her sister Min has been checked into a psychiatric hospital, and finds herself flying back to Winnipeg to take care of Thebes and Logan, her niece and nephew. Not knowing what else to do, she loads the kids, a cooler, and a pile of CDs into their van and they set out on a road trip in search of the children's long-lost father, Cherkis.

In part because no one has any good idea where Cherkis is, the traveling matters more than the destination. On their wayward, eventful journey down to North Dakota and beyond, the Troutmans stay at scary motels, meet helpful hippies, and try to ignore the threatening noises coming from under the hood of their van. Eleven-year-old Thebes spends her time making huge novelty cheques with arts and crafts supplies in the back, and won't wash, no matter how wild and matted her purple hair gets; she forgot to pack any clothes. Four years older, Logan carves phrases like "Fear Yourself" into the dashboard, and repeatedly disappears in the middle of the night to play basketball; he's in love, he says, with New York Times columnist Deborah Solomon. Meanwhile, Min can't be reached at the hospital, and, more than once, Hattie calls Marc in tears.

But though it might seem like an escape from crisis into chaos, this journey is also desperately necessary, a chance for an accidental family to accept, understand or at least find their way through overwhelming times. From interwoven memories and scenes from the past, we learn much more about them: how Min got so sick, why Cherkis left home, why Hattie went to Paris, and what made Thebes and Logan who they are today.

In this completely captivating book, Miriam Toews has created some of the most engaging characters in Canadian literature: Hattie, Logan and Thebes are bewildered, hopeful, angry, and most of all, absolutely alive. Full of richly skewed, richly funny detail, The Flying Troutmans is a uniquely affecting novel.


From the Hardcover edition.

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WINNER 2008 - Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize
NOMINEE 2009 - Orange Prize
FINALIST 2008 - Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction
FINALIST 2008 - McNally Robinson Book of the Year

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“Toews’s writing is a unique collision of sadness and humour. . . . The Flying Troutmans is a dark story but it is also a never-ending series of hilarious adventures.”
— Ottawa Citizen

“Engaging, humorous, grim, and redemptive, this is essential reading.”
— Library Journal

“It’s darkly funny, bursting at the seams with quirky characters and off-kilter pop culture references that rival Douglas Coupland’s for their incisive wit.”
— The Vancouver Sun

“Toews may have invented a new genre, the romantic-depressive comedy, at which she excels.”
— Toronto Star

“Toews has a terrific ability to capture the mix of irony and innocence in a smart child’s mind. . . . She balances heartbreak with laugh-out-loud wit.”
— Edmonton Journal

“Toews writes . . . in a high-energy original voice filled with love, fear, humour and originality. Miriam Toews is an extraordinarily gifted writer, one who writes with unsentimental compassion for her people and an honest understanding of their past, the tectonic shifts of their present and variables of their future.”
—The Globe and Mail


From the Hardcover edition.

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"The author has presented frankly, and with delightful humor, the worldview of two children; an 11 yr-old girl and a 15 yr-old boy, who have struggled to survive their situation, and in so doing has created two unforgettable characters. She does this by capturing their sometimes quirky use of language in many realistic but very unusual dialogues. The resourcefulness and creativity of the girl, including the important task of naming and renaming things, is a constant delight... I highly recommend this book."
- Lorna P, Alberta

"Toews' The Flying Troutmans presents a true and humane a picture with its gentle mix of humour,reality,sadness,uncertainty and promise."
- Harold K, Newfoundland

"Eccentric,lovable, memorable characters engaged in trying to keep their family intact. Miriam Toews characters are refreshing in Canadian literature which is rife with whiners and dreariness. Good plot which moves along quickly and reaches a satisfactory conclusion."
- Anne K, British Columbia

"I loved The Flying Troutmans!! I think Miriam Toews found the correct balance between the humorous parts of the novel and the serious themes it encompassed. She seems to have an acute insight into the way teenagers and children think and speak. Logan and Thebes are both believable and memorable. I loved the part when Thebes was presenting her book review on Clara Callan. Her summary was excellent. If an author can make you laugh, cry and pause to take note, it is a true accomplishment. Miriam Toews did all that with her novel The Flying Troutmans. It is an exceptional novel."
-Brenda V, Ontario

"I really liked this book a lot. It was warm, funny and pulled you into the Troutman's dysfunctional family."
-Dodie R, Nova Scotia

"I have to say this is one of the most entertaining books I have read in a long time. My ex-husband suffers from manic depression and the feelings and situations in the book regarding Min were very familiar. The dialogue and the relationships between Hattie and the two kids also rung true and often had me laughing out loud. I would recommend it to anyone, and I am in fact taking it to work tomorrow to lend to a co-worker. Excellent book!!"
-Karen M, Ontario


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Miriam Toews is the author of three previous novels: Summer of My Amazing Luck; A Boy of Good Breeding and A Complicated Kindness (winner of the 2004 Governor’s General Award for fiction) and one work of non-fiction: Swing Low: A Life. She lives in Winnipeg.


From the Hardcover edition.

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