Donna Milner
Författare till After River
Verk av Donna Milner
Associerade verk
Taggad
Allmänna fakta
- Vedertaget namn
- Milner, Donna
- Namn enligt folkbokföringen
- Milner, Donna Jonas
- Födelsedag
- 1947
- Kön
- female
- Nationalitet
- Canada
- Födelseort
- Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
- Bostadsorter
- Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Rossland, British Columbia, Canada - Yrken
- real estate agent
novelist - Kort biografi
- Donna Jonas Milner, who has been referred to as the, 'Oh, so Canadian author,' was born in Victoria British Columbia and grew up in South Vancouver. As a young woman she relocated to a small town in the West Kootenays where she married and started a family. In 1972 she settled in the central interior of British Columbia and has resided there since. It wasn't until after she had raised four children and retired from a 25 year career in Real Estate that she pursued her secret passion for writing. Her debut novel AFTER RIVER, was picked out of the slush pile at Gregory & Co Agency, and subsequently sold and published in twelve countries. It has been translated into six different languages, and made into an audio book.
Milner makes no apologies for using the British Columbia locations where she has lived as inspiration for the settings of her novels. It is no secret that the town of Rossland where she resided for seven years, was the prototype for the border town of Atwood in AFTER RIVER, and in her new novel, THE PROMISE OF RAIN, her childhood home in a Fraserview subdivision of 'wartime houses' served as the backdrop for the Vancouver scenes.
Milner and her husband now live north of Williams Lake, off the grid in an eco friendly timber frame home. And of course, she admits, she is using a similar isolated setting on a pristine lake as the location of her third novel, which she is currently at work on.
Medlemmar
Recensioner
Read for book club.
This novel has dual storylines; the present-day of the 1930s-1950, and the journal entries and memories of the protagonist's grandfather from 1864. It took me half the book to realize that the 1864 events actually happened. This was well-written, apart from the over-frequent use of lines such as '...a decision I would come to regret', and I found it moving and emotionally truthful.
This novel has dual storylines; the present-day of the 1930s-1950, and the journal entries and memories of the protagonist's grandfather from 1864. It took me half the book to realize that the 1864 events actually happened. This was well-written, apart from the over-frequent use of lines such as '...a decision I would come to regret', and I found it moving and emotionally truthful.
I read Donna Milner's debut novel, After River, back in 2008. In re-reading my review, I see that I described Milner's writing as "quite simply, beautiful."
Her newest book, A Place Called Sorry, has just released - and Milner's writing has only gotten better.
1930's British Columbia. Young Addie Beale makes her home on a cattle ranch in the bush in British Columbia. Sorry is " a scanty little settlement located twelve hard bush miles from our ranch....the place where a number of side roads, not much more than widened paths, converged onto the trail that once led to the Cariboo goldfields."
Addie loves the land as much as her grandfather and father. Her grandfather has only ever hinted at the life he led before the ranch. As age creeps up on him, he slowly begins to reveal his secrets to Addie as she reads him the journals he wrote as a boy. Milner employs a then and now narrative that moves the story forward until past and present intersect. I quite enjoy this story within a story style.
I loved Milner's characters - I became so invested in them and their lives. The gentle wisdom of Addie's father and grandfather, the interactions between the three, the burgeoning friendship between Alan and Addie, hurt and heartache and joy. There is one exception - Mrs. Parsons the malicious, vitriolic schoolteacher. I simply wanted to rip her from the pages and throttle her.
It took me over a week to read A Place Called Sorry. Why? Because I became so emotionally involved in the book - I was so angry at the prejudice and so saddened at the injustice and treatment of the First Nations people. I became completely caught up in both the past and the present lives of Chauncey and Addie and found myself many times with tears running down my face. I was so tempted to flip ahead to the last pages and assure myself of the ending. But instead, I put the book down and walked away, returning to unfold the story as Milner wrote it. The ending? Couldn't have been better. "Loving someone does not require their presence in your life. Sometimes forgiveness is simply remembering that love."
Milner herself makes her home in British Columbia. Her descriptions of the land painted vivid mental images for me. Her exploration of the past was simply outstanding, blending fact and fiction together. "We're the newcomers here. There's something to be said about our European arrogance of believing it's our God-given right to go wherever and however we please. "The Chilcotin War was real - and the reverberations have echoed across the decades. The B.C. government only last year apologized to the Tsilhqot’in people.
Readers will know of my love for book covers - this one is absolutely perfect for the story. As is the book itself - A Place Called Sorry was a five star read for me - absolutely recommended!… (mer)
Her newest book, A Place Called Sorry, has just released - and Milner's writing has only gotten better.
1930's British Columbia. Young Addie Beale makes her home on a cattle ranch in the bush in British Columbia. Sorry is " a scanty little settlement located twelve hard bush miles from our ranch....the place where a number of side roads, not much more than widened paths, converged onto the trail that once led to the Cariboo goldfields."
Addie loves the land as much as her grandfather and father. Her grandfather has only ever hinted at the life he led before the ranch. As age creeps up on him, he slowly begins to reveal his secrets to Addie as she reads him the journals he wrote as a boy. Milner employs a then and now narrative that moves the story forward until past and present intersect. I quite enjoy this story within a story style.
I loved Milner's characters - I became so invested in them and their lives. The gentle wisdom of Addie's father and grandfather, the interactions between the three, the burgeoning friendship between Alan and Addie, hurt and heartache and joy. There is one exception - Mrs. Parsons the malicious, vitriolic schoolteacher. I simply wanted to rip her from the pages and throttle her.
It took me over a week to read A Place Called Sorry. Why? Because I became so emotionally involved in the book - I was so angry at the prejudice and so saddened at the injustice and treatment of the First Nations people. I became completely caught up in both the past and the present lives of Chauncey and Addie and found myself many times with tears running down my face. I was so tempted to flip ahead to the last pages and assure myself of the ending. But instead, I put the book down and walked away, returning to unfold the story as Milner wrote it. The ending? Couldn't have been better. "Loving someone does not require their presence in your life. Sometimes forgiveness is simply remembering that love."
Milner herself makes her home in British Columbia. Her descriptions of the land painted vivid mental images for me. Her exploration of the past was simply outstanding, blending fact and fiction together. "We're the newcomers here. There's something to be said about our European arrogance of believing it's our God-given right to go wherever and however we please. "The Chilcotin War was real - and the reverberations have echoed across the decades. The B.C. government only last year apologized to the Tsilhqot’in people.
Readers will know of my love for book covers - this one is absolutely perfect for the story. As is the book itself - A Place Called Sorry was a five star read for me - absolutely recommended!… (mer)
Eine Milchfarm in Kanada 1966. Die Familie Ward lebt dort sehr glücklich, trotz aller Widrigkeiten, die das Farmleben so mit sich bringt. Die Mutter Nettie hätte für ihre Söhne eigentlich andere Pläne, würde ihren begabten Sohn Boyer gern an der Uni sehen. Der Vater Gus ist Analphabet und Bildung für ihn wenig wichtig. Ingesamt aber ist die Familie glücklich und voller Liebe. Da trifft der junge River, ein amerikanischer Vietnam-Verweigerer auf der Farm als Hilfsarbeiter ein. Er bezaubert alle durch sein schlichtes, aufrichtiges, gutes Wesen. Doch leider nimmt damit auch eine unglückselige Verkettung ihren Lauf.
Das ist eigentlich eine schöne Geschichte und die vielen positiven Bewertungen bei Amazon zeigen, dass sie auch vielen gefällt. Mich haben die vielen Andeutungen darauf, das etwas Schlimmes geschehen würde, gestört. Ich hätte es beser gefunden, wenn die Geschichte einfach erzählt worden wäre, ohne sie künstlich zu dramatisieren. Das Ende fand ich dann viel zu dick aufgetragen. Erst sieht man sich 34 Jahre gar nicht, dann liegen sich alle, einschließlich neuer Familienmitglieder in den Armen.
Fazit: Ähnlich wie bei "Der Tag, als Marilyn starb" der gleichen Autorin, gelingt es ihr hier, gute Charaktere zu schaffen und eine gute Geschichte zu kreieren. Der Erzählstil war auch dort voller Andeutungen auf etwas Schlimmes, was in beiden Büchern unnötig ist und den Erzählfluss eher stört. Das hätte sie in beiden Büchern lassen können. Sie sollte einfach ihre Geschichten erzählen und auf all diese Rück- und Vorblenden verzichten.… (mer)
Das ist eigentlich eine schöne Geschichte und die vielen positiven Bewertungen bei Amazon zeigen, dass sie auch vielen gefällt. Mich haben die vielen Andeutungen darauf, das etwas Schlimmes geschehen würde, gestört. Ich hätte es beser gefunden, wenn die Geschichte einfach erzählt worden wäre, ohne sie künstlich zu dramatisieren. Das Ende fand ich dann viel zu dick aufgetragen. Erst sieht man sich 34 Jahre gar nicht, dann liegen sich alle, einschließlich neuer Familienmitglieder in den Armen.
Fazit: Ähnlich wie bei "Der Tag, als Marilyn starb" der gleichen Autorin, gelingt es ihr hier, gute Charaktere zu schaffen und eine gute Geschichte zu kreieren. Der Erzählstil war auch dort voller Andeutungen auf etwas Schlimmes, was in beiden Büchern unnötig ist und den Erzählfluss eher stört. Das hätte sie in beiden Büchern lassen können. Sie sollte einfach ihre Geschichten erzählen und auf all diese Rück- und Vorblenden verzichten.… (mer)
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Associerade författare
Statistik
- Verk
- 5
- Även av
- 1
- Medlemmar
- 282
- Popularitet
- #82,539
- Betyg
- 3.7
- Recensioner
- 18
- ISBN
- 43
- Språk
- 4
Entonces, ella vivía en la granja familiar con sus padres y sus cuatro hermanos varones. Pero un caluroso día de julio, al entrar el joven River por primera vez en su jardín, comprendió que todo cambiaría. River, que representaba un mundo libre de conservadurismos opuestos a lo que había vivido hasta entonces, entró a trabajar en la granja y se ganó en poco tiempo el cariño de la familia y especialmente la admiración de Natalie. Pero, a partir de ese momento, también se empezó a tambalear su estable vida familiar.… (mer)