Bafflement Slayer
Stories from a writer baffled by her family
This collection of essays is how I slay dragons, specifically the dragon of not feeling as though I belong anywhere. Here is where I excavate my family’s past, particularly their migration stories, in an effort to understand how the people and their stories shaped my present.
I am baffled by the choice my parents made to move from Canada to communist Hungary in 1967 and live there for five years. It’s where I was born. This decision set me up as an outlier within my family, my country of citizenship versus birth, and in my own mind. It’s how I was conceived.
In many respects I’ve fallen far from the tree, but in others it’s clear that this apple is not so different from those who ripened earlier. We are all acidic and sweet in our own ways.
Readers have said they appreciate the humor and sense of irony evident from my voice, and that each essay is both insightful and relatable, demonstrating vulnerability mixed with a touch of grace.
If slowing down and reading other people’s stories from life in order to connect to your own stories appeals to you, then I invite you to subscribe.
What Subscribers Can Expect
Personal essays based on my family aimed to develop an understanding of how I turned out this way and forgive them for it.
Geeky stuff based on my engagement with books. Actual books, tactile things made from paper and ink.
Emails go out two Sundays a month.
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About Me
My midlife crisis came early. When I was in my late 30s I learned I couldn’t have children, got divorced, left my corporate job, sold my house in Toronto, Ontario and moved to Adelaide, South Australia by myself.
I thought I’d be there for two years to do a masters in creative writing at The University of Adelaide and then return to Toronto refreshed, hit my friends up for a job and life would go on. Instead I stayed in Australia for six years, earning a PhD in creative writing under the mentorship of one of Australia’s foremost literary writers, Brian Castro. I also had an opportunity to work with MJ Hyland, Booker-nominated author of Carry Me Down and This Is How.
In addition to my work as a writer and an academic, I met husband number two, an American born in Florida. Since then we have settled in the United States.
P.S. This newsletter used to be called Jacaranda. As it evolved a new name that better describes the content was needed. That new name is Far From the Tree.