Shortlisted for the 2009 Stephen Leacock Award for Humour!
Award-winning children’s author publishes her premiere novel for adults. With all the wisdom, humour and joy we’ve come to expect from Sheree Fitch, Kiss the Joy As It Flies marks the well-loved author’s move from children’s literature to adult fiction. Set in the fictional Maritime town of Odell, with a cast of exasperating but lovable characters, Kiss the Joy As It Flies promises to be a remarkable debut and a reader’s favourite. Panic-stricken by the news that she needs exploratory surgery, forty-eight-year-old Mercy Beth Fanjoy drafts a monumental to do list and sets about putting her messy life in order. Among other things (hide the vibrator!), she’s determined to finally uncover the identity of her secret admirer; reconnect with long-lost friend and rival Teeny Gaudet; and, most importantly, get her hands on the note her father left before committing suicide all those years ago. But tidying up the edges of her life means the past comes rushing back to haunt her and the present keeps throwing up more to do’s. Between fits of weeping and laughter, ranting and bliss, Mercy must contemplate the meaning of life in the face of her own death. In a week filled with the riot of an entire life, nothing turns out the way she’d expected.
Sheree Fitch is a multi award-winning writer, speaker, and educator and the author of twenty-three books in a variety of genres. Since the publication of her first book, Toes in My Nose (Doubleday), she’s travelled the globe as a visiting author, writing instructor, and literacy educator. A popular presenter at literary festivals, libraries, and conferences, Fitch has received the Vicky Metcalf Award for a body of work inspirational to Canadian children and two honorary doctorates for her contribution to Canadian literature and issues affecting women and children. Sheree’s collection of adult poetry, In This House Are Many Women (Goose Lane), was published in 1992 and reissued in 2005, and her novel for young adults, The Gravesavers (Doubleday), garnered critical acclaim and several awards. Kiss the Joy as it Flies is Fitch’s first novel for an adult audience.
Reviews:
"Mercy Beth Fanjoy, the 48-year old heroine of best-selling children's author Sheree Fitch's first adult novel, is memorable, to say the least. She is in many ways ordinary, and yet she is unique. In other words, she's like the rest of us... Kiss the Joy As It Flies has a complexity rarely found in books that are as irreverent and wickedly funny." —National Post
"[Mercy] is a character readers identify with. Since the novel's publication, Fitch has received dozens of appreciative emails. "Thank you for Mercy," her readers write. "Mercy is my new best friend." —Vancouver Sun
" The best part of this book is the main character, Mercy. You have to love her." — The Chronicle Herald
" An engaging character, Mercy is compellingly drawn and charmingly flawed." — Globe and Mail
“Kiss the Joy As It Flies is funny and heartbreaking and thought-provoking and sometimes all three—and more—at once. Fitch made us wait a long time for her first novel, but it was worth it. It’s a rare and lovely book.” — January Magazine
“Although the topic is weighty, the erratic and eccentric character of Mercy turns the tale into a tragic comedy and the colourful characters in her life lighten the mood." — Telegraph Journal