Talk about the first time Gord meets Grandma at the hospital. How did you understand this emphasis? How did you understand Mom’s reaction when Swiv reports this back to her?ġ2. In Fresno, the people Swiv meets talk about how strong Mom/Mooshie is. Why was it necessary for Grandma to go on the trip, despite her poor health?ġ1. Talk about Grandma and Swiv’s trip to Fresno. What happened to Mom/Mooshie in Albania? Why and how does this discovery influence your perception of her character?ġ0. How did this change impact your reading?ĩ. In Chapter 10, the book changes stylistically, reflecting a transcription of Grandma’s words. Who is Willit Braun? Why is he so infamous in Grandma’s circles?Ĩ. What does Swiv mean when she refers to her family’s Editorial Meetings? How do the meetings themselves differ from what we might assume based on that phrase? Why do you think she uses it?ħ. What is the effect of this choice? What other idiosyncrasies do you notice?Ħ.

Toews often uses exaggerations in Swiv’s narration. What about Grandma/Elvira and Mom/Mooshie? What kind of people are they, and does Swiv see them clearly?ĥ. What kind of kid is Swiv? What makes you think so?Ĥ. Who is the book addressed to, and why is this character not present in Swiv’s life? Why do you think Toews chose a letter for the novel’s form? What other formal choices do you notice?ģ. Why do you think Toews chose this title? What are the characters fighting?Ģ. Cramped together in their Toronto home, on the precipice of extraordinary change, Grandma and Swiv undertake a vital new project, setting out to explain their lives in letters they will never send.Īlternating between the exuberant, precocious voice of young Swiv and her irrepressible, tenacious Grandma, Fight Night is a love letter to mothers and grandmothers, and to all the women who are still fighting-painfully, ferociously- for a way to live on their own terms. And now, even as her health fails, Grandma is fighting for her family: for her daughter, partnerless and in the third term of a pregnancy and for her granddaughter Swiv, a spirited nine-year-old who has been suspended from school. She has fought to make peace with her loved ones when they have chosen to leave her. From her upbringing in a strict religious community, she has fought those who wanted to take away her joy, her independence, and her spirit. “You’re a small thing,” Grandma writes, “and you must learn to fight.” Swiv’s Grandma, Elvira, has been fighting all her life. From the bestselling author of Women Talking and All My Puny Sorrows, a compassionate, darkly humorous, and deeply wise new novel about three generations of women.

Miriam toews book list