A Truce That Is Not Peace is an inventive memoir of voice, identity and grief from writer Miriam Toews.

Toews has been asked to write a piece on 'Why do you write' for a literary event, which she repeatedly fails to do. But in this eclectic collection of memories, all of which in some way play with the themes of voice and language, she answers this question and more. Writing is at the heart of her identity, her connections with her family and her understanding of the world and the trauma she has experienced: it is as essential as breathing.

As a piece of autofiction, I didn't find this entirely fluid. Sometimes the tonal shifts between light and dark are effective, at others jarring. But as a literary memoir, it's powerful.

Always balancing humour and tragedy with such fierce wit and, most importantly, heart, this is a surprising and deeply moving look back on death, previous relationships, family and the life as a writer. The perfect companion to Toews’ acclaimed novels.

This is such a powerful, brutally honest book by Miriam Toews, everything you would expect from a memoir by her. She writes about grief, guilt and her writing, and within it all tries to come to terms with her sister’s suicide. As always with her books she packs no punches, but somehow manages to write about deep trauma with a dose of humour thrown it. This book won’t be for everyone but I feel sure if you like Miriam Toews you’ll love this.

I was so looking forward to an opportunity to read A Truce That is Not Peace by Miriam Toews as she is my favourite writer and it lived up to all my expectations. She explores what it means to be a writer, a daughter, a sister, a mother, a grandma.

In April 2023, Miriam Toews is grappling with a question which she and her fellow panellists at a Mexican literary event must answer: Why do I write? She sends several replies, all rejected. She writes because her sister asked her to. Marj, to whom the book is dedicated, took her own life in 2010. The writing question is the hook on which Toews hangs this brief, raw yet beautifully written memoir but it's Marj who is at the heart of it.

Toews’s writing, a process which seems more akin to self-torture than enjoyment, began with the letters she wrote to Marj when her sister was ill and shut off from a world which she, herself, had begun to explore. Their father was bipolar, a teacher and a good one, who took his own life. Marj struggled with depression all her life, taking to periods of silence just as he had done. If you’ve read her fiction, you’ll likely know that All My Puny Sorrows draws heavily on the loss of her sister and will also be familiar with the mix of humour and darkness that characterises her work.

The book ends on a hopeful note with a lovely family scene: Toews’s redoubtable mother has been asked to keep score while her greatgrandchildren prepare themselves for ‘the world’s most epic lightsabre battle’.

My experience of reading Toews' fiction is that it flouts convention. This is why I love her work. This memoir is similarly off-script.

She is asked (with other writers) to produce a piece for a conference on "Why do you Write". Her responses play out through this memoir. None of them fit the conference brief. This is exactly the point, my opinion is that writers respond to life in a million ways and cannot be boxed into what is expected and this is the joy of reading.

Toews' life bleeds into her fiction so this work is not unexpected. She was brought up in a Mennonite community and inevitably the suicide of her sister and the long silences in her family colour her world. The narrative is episodic, back and forth (non-linear) through life's happenings and her contemporary and reflected emotions.

Her skill in balancing deep trauma with humour is extraordinary. The layering of her life is compulsive and I found it revealed itself in much of the way that we all get to know people, superficial to in-depth in fits and starts.

I loved this. I love that she does not conform and for myself I find that Toews' response to "Why Do You write" is just perfect. Works for me.

With thanks to #NetGalley and #4thestatebooks for the opportunity to read and review