The Flying Troutmans Author:Miriam Toews From Paris to Manitoba — When the protagonist, Hattie Troutman, receives a call from her 11-year-old niece Theodora (Thebes for short) about Min, she leaves Paris and returns home to Manitoba. Min, Hattie?s mentally ill older sister, is having another serious episode and refuses to eat or get out of bed. Raising Thebes and Logan, her fifteen-year... more »-old son, is falling by the wayside.
Problems at Home
It is Hattie?s job to provide stability in this out of control household. After getting Mim hospitalized, Hattie and the kids hit the road in search of Min?s husband Cherkis who was literally ?chased off? by Min many years early. The last that Hattie had heard, he was living somewhere in South Dakota.
Road Trip
As the trio wind through the western parts of America, readers learn about the troubled relationship between the sisters. Min has harbored complicated feelings for Hattie since the younger sibling?s birth. Attempts to harm her have backfired with some very dangerous and tragic consequences. Despite their history, Hattie knows that she is all that Min and the children have, and she is committed to helping out.
Teenage Angst
Logan is portrayed as an angry young man with a non-communicative nature. Hattie feels it is her job to make him open up. Some attempts are better than others. Toews is able to make Logan?s behavior understandable but still exasperating. As he carves words into the dashboard of the van, Hattie looks on helplessly. She sees that he is trying to communicate even if it is destructive.
Theodora
Equally complicated is Thebes. She has purple hair, refuses to bath or change clothes and speaks in hip-hop lingo. Toews has created a humorous and tragic figure in Thebes. Hattie recognizes this erratic behavior as a coping mechanism for her niece?s troubled home life.
Parenting for the Non-Parent
Although Hattie is not a parent herself, she has a lot of insight into it, which is evident in this passage: ?Conversing with children is a fine art, I realized. An art form that demands large amounts of both honesty and misdirection. Or maybe discretion is a better word.?
Writer as Storyteller
Toews? unique writing technique of using no quotations can be confusing at first but lends a storytelling quality to the novel. It is almost as if Hattie is telling the reader the story directly. It is similar to her essays for the radio program This American Life.
The story reaches a satisfying conclusion as the Troutmans come to the end of their journey. Hattie, Logan and Thebes are memorable characters that leave a lasting impression.« less