The Torontonians

Phyllis Brett Young

• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Year: 2007
• eBook ISBN: 9780773578852
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literature General
• Index: Literature

The arrival, one sunny morning, of pale green wall-to-wall carpeting for the living room is the crowning jewel in Karen Whitney's long-anticipated transformation of her house into a beautiful home, renovated to the exacting standards of her own impeccable taste. The banal finality of this event triggers an introspective voyage through the events of her life and how she became who she is: wife of business executive Rick, citizen of the suburb of Rowanwood, mother to two accomplished daughters in university. Before Betty Friedan coined the term feminine mystique, The Torontonians told a classic feminist story of suburban ennui and existential self-discovery, tracing a detailed portrait of femininity in the 1950s through the eyes of its perceptive and thoughtful heroine. The book is also a unique contemporary meditation on community and social ties from a time when Canada's major cities were just beginning to spread out into suburban sprawl.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword Valerie Young Argue
• About the Novel Nathalie Cooke and Suzanne Morton
• Introduction Nathalie Cooke and Suzanne Morton
• Author’s Note
• 1. The exact size and shape and colour
• 2. Nothing serious, I hope?
• 3. Were you happy in that place?
• 4. A pop-up toaster would be quite unsuitable
• 5. There’s nothing like a buckwheat lawn
• 6. Right in the middle of Loblaw’s
• 7. Everything was very personal in those days
• 8. Don’t get so excited, darling
• 9. Neither here nor there
• 10. Your mother wouldn’t mind, would she?
• 11. Personally, I recommend the gin
• 12. Just a friendly cook-out
• 13. Nothing definitive ever happens in Geneva
• 14. They’re very informal at the palace
• 15. Only a routine check-up
• 16. It could have been a whole lot worse
• 17. And how do you like our little town?
• 18. A once smooth, grey cube
• 19. I’m sure you’ll understand
• 20. Good-bye in the afternoon
• 21. You never get something for nothing
• People, Places, and Things Nathalie Cooke and Suzanne Morton
• Footnote