The award-winning Joan Silber has been celebrated as America's own Alice Munro and indeed, Silber cites the Canadian short-story writer as one of her greatest influences. Though Improvement is a novel, the chapters are easily read as short stories and move backwards and forwards in time in a fashion that reflects Munro's signature style.
While only 256 pages, feels expansive, eloquently spanning lives, generations and locations with a seamless flow. We meet a young mother in Richmond, heartbroken and confused after being jilted by her previously smitten lover without so much as an explanation; a middle-aged truck driver torn between his wife and his ex-wife; three German travellers finding and selling ancient artefacts.
The characters are mostly ordinary and so are there lives but Silber's sharp yet very human touch offers a tender insight into their stories.
Each character comes with their own fascinating backstory, rich in complexity. Though we are reluctant to leave them in their chapters, we quickly become engrossed in the life of each new character. It is the interconnection between these lives that creates a fascinating and ultimately rewarding read.
