One thing going for Elf is the fact that her family-not just Yoli-truly supports her. Yoli wants to encourage her sister and champion her talents. This limit on creativity is especially difficult for Elf, who wants nothing more than to tell jokes, be sarcastic, and play her piano. At home, they face creative struggles because being different is bad in such an environment. Toews begins her narrative by detailing the childhood of Yoli and Elf. It sounds sad-maybe too sad, and, really, it is for segments however, Toews knows how to create a story, and she adds just enough humor to make the whole thing digestible. When speaking with Yoli about what she wants most in life, Elf emphatically declares, “Death!”Īll My Puny Sorrows is about how we approach life when we don’t want to live it. You probably think that Yoli might be the one struggling with the idea of life-or living, but it’s Elf who can’t seem to find anything worth living for.Įlf isn’t just a woman who fights with depression-this is a woman who very much struggles to exist in an entire world that she can’t bear. Elf is a master-pianist, married to a good man, rich, and by most accounts, a beautiful woman. The one thing she craves is “true love,” but everyone knows it’ll never happen. Yolandi “Yoli” and Elfrieda “Elf” Von Riesen are sisters who couldn’t be more different. This time, though, things are even direr. Now, in her latest (and best) novel, All My Puny Sorrows, Toews presents a similar situation.
Her community inhibits her individuality, and the overwhelming control dominates the girl’s life. A Complicated Kindnessis about a teenage girl who struggles with her identity inside the oppressive Mennonite world.
Considering 2004’s A Complicated Kindness, it is clear that Miriam Toews is a woman who understands entrapment.
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