THE SEASON OF FURY AND WONDER

In her fourth brilliant collection of short stories, THE SEASON OF FURY AND WONDER,
Sharon Butala explores the lives of old women: their rage, their regrets, their secrets, and
the small joys they still relish. Filled with wisdom and irony, bitterness and gratitude,
quotidian concerns and ultimate questions, The Season of Fury and Wonder is an
exploration of old age and womanhood by an iconic writer from the canon of Canadian
literature, Sharon Butala.

Out of a sense of duty to her sister, in “What Else We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” an old woman visits her dying brother-in-law, whom she has loathed for years, and experiences an epiphany of compassion and forgiveness, as she says good-bye to him. In “Grace's Garden,” Grace takes full command of her life, in complete defiance of her children and social worker, as she chooses a dramatic death, rather than enter a care facility. In “Elephants,” Maggie weighs her memories of her significant relationships—husbands, and dear girlfriends, none of whom are alive to lessen her loneliness—as she attends a powerful art exhibit, which sends her in to spiritual reveries. In “Guilt: a Discussion,” four old women devise a parlour game in which one asks a question that the others have to answer, leading to astonishing revelations, for which ghosts from the past act as audience, judge, and juror.

“Crone lit” stories that are examples of the wisdom and insights of older women and at the same time tributes to the classic literature that inspired them.

“There are things that it is impossible to learn when you are young, no matter how much you read and study.” The season of fury and wonder, in Sharon Butala's world, is the old age of women. These stories present the lives of old women – women of experience, who've seen much of life, who've tasted of its sweetness and its bitter possibilities, and have developed opinions and come to conclusions about what it all amounts to. These are stories of today's old women, who understand that they have been created by their pasts.

But there's another layer to this standard-setting example of “cronelit.” Not content to rest on her considerable literary laurels, Sharon Butala continues to push the boundaries of her art. The stories in Season of Fury and Wonder are all reactions to other, classic, works of literature that she has encountered and admired. These stories are, in their various ways, inspired by and tributes to works by the likes of Raymond Carver, Willa Cather, James Joyce, Shirley Jackson, Flannery O'Conner, John Cheever, Alan Sillitoe, Ernest Hemingway, Tim O'Brien, Edgar Allan Poe and Anton Checkov.

SHARON BUTALA is the author of nineteen books of fiction and nonfiction, numerous essays and articles, poetry, and five produced plays. She published her first novel in 1984, Country of the Heart, which was nominated for the Books in Canada First Novel Award. Born in Nipawin, Saskatchewan, she graduated from the University of Saskatchewan, and taught English in her home province and Nova Scotia. She eventually returned to Saskatchewan to live, for three decades, on her husband Peter Butala's ranch. Ms Butala's bestselling books have been nominated for numerous awards, including the Governor General's Award and The City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize. She is also the recipient of the Order of Canada, the Queen's Jubilee Medal, and three honorary degrees from Canadian universities. As well, Ms. Butala has received two lifetime achievement awards for her work: Cheryl and Henry Kloppenburg Award and the Marion Engel Award. For more information about Sharon Butala, see Ssharonbutala.com.