Armin Wiebe

Grandmother, Laughing

Until she met Obrum Kehler, serious Sarah Sudermann had never laughed. Her mother said she always reached for the black things first. As a young girl, she was haunted by a vision of her grandmother bolt upright in her black trough coffin, laughing so hard her bonnet slipped off to the side and hung from one ear. But then Obrum looked at her with his Robin’s egg eyes and red paint on his nose.

And then there was the lawnswing . . . and the piano. Not practical. Not necessary. Especially for a young couple struggling through the Great Depression. When Beethoven Blatz enters to tune their piano everything is in place for the Kehler family to make great music together.

Full of love, longing, and tenderness, Grandmother Laughing is a story about unconventional families and the lengths we will go to find fulfillment for ourselves and the ones we cherish.

The Salvation of Yasch Siemens

Born “on the wrong side of the double dike” in the mythical Mennonite village of Gutenthal, Yasch Siemens seems destined for a life as a hired hand in love with the wrong girl. But all of that changes when he meets Oata Needarp. Oata is determined to make Yasch hers, and it only takes some chokecherry wine and the fragrance of Oata’s “Evening in Schanzenfeld” perfume to seal Yasch’s fate. Shortlisted for both the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour and the Books in Canada Best First Book Award, The Salvation of Yasch Siemens is an outrageous, comic ride through Canadian literature’s most unforgettable community.

Now this enduring Canadian classic includes a loving preface from the author, Armin Wiebe, and an insightful new essay from Nathan Dueck. Together they rediscover the warmth and wit in the world of Gutenthal, a profound part of Canada’s literary landscape.