From the renowned author of Sweetness in the Belly, The Beauty of Humanity Movement and This Is Happy, comes a bold, urgent and richly imagined novel about what it means to be a family in our modern world.
Lila is on a long, painful journey toward motherhood. Tess and Emily are reeling after their ugly separation and fighting over ownership of the embryos that were supposed to grow their family together. And thousands of miles away, the unknown man who served as anonymous donor to them all is being held in captivity in Somalia. While his life remains in precarious balance, his genetic material is a source of both creation and conflict.
What does it mean to be a family in our rapidly shifting world? What are our responsibilities to each other with increasing options for how to create a family?
As these characters grapple with life-altering changes, they will find themselves interconnected in ways they cannot have imagined, and forced to redefine what family means to them.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 TORONTO BOOKS AWARDS
"Camilla Gibb's new book The Relatives proves she's one of Canada's best storytellers. [She] grabs us from the start with this thriller-paced novel. . . . Taut, suspenseful prose urges us ever forward, probing the deeper connections among her beautifully flawed family of characters. . . . Taking us into the bright and the dark, worlds known and unknown, Gibb's multi-layered tale solves these mysteries with the immense satisfaction that only the best storytellers can deliver." —Toronto Star
"This slim volume packs a punch. Beautifully written, and oh, what a story of family and lives coming together! I loved it." —The Kit
Praise for Camilla Gibb:
"Gibb's writing is laser-like." —Toronto Star
"Gibb's prose is elegant and sings with an almost Victorian delicacy and sophistication: Dickens, interrupted." —San Francisco Chronicle
"An extraordinary Canadian talent. . . . The intricacy of Gibb's language transports you." —Edmonton Journal
"Anger, honesty, compassion, fear, wit and insight electrify Gibb's deft sentences, singing the importance of belonging, of self-worth and of story." —Winnipeg Free Press
"A debunker of stereotypes and a seeker of the big picture, [Gibb] isn't satisfied with merely creating convincing characters and a bold plot. She educates and enlightens the reader." —Montreal Gazette
"Gibb's thoughtful and intricate writing weaves an unforgettable portrait . . . and her observations of humanity make clear the similarities in all of us." —The Seattlest
CAMILLA GIBB was born in London, England, and grew up in Toronto. She is the author of four internationally acclaimed novels—Mouthing the Words, The Petty Details of So-and-so's Life, Sweetness in the Belly and The Beauty of Humanity Movement—as well as the bestselling memoir This is Happy. Camilla has been the recipient of the Trillium Book Award, the City of Toronto Book Award and the CBC Canadian Literary Award and has been shortlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize and the Scotiabank Giller Prize. She has a Ph.D. from Oxford University and is an adjunct faculty member of the graduate creative writing programs at the University of Toronto and the University of Guelph.
From the renowned author of Sweetness in the Belly, The Beauty of Humanity Movement and This Is Happy, comes a bold, urgent and richly imagined novel about what it means to be a family in our modern world.
Lila is on a long, painful journey toward motherhood. Tess and Emily are reeling after their ugly separation and fighting over ownership of the embryos that were supposed to grow their family together. And thousands of miles away, the unknown man who served as anonymous donor to them all is being held in captivity in Somalia. While his life remains in precarious balance, his genetic material is a source of both creation and conflict.
What does it mean to be a family in our rapidly shifting world? What are our responsibilities to each other with increasing options for how to create a family?
As these characters grapple with life-altering changes, they will find themselves interconnected in ways they cannot have imagined, and forced to redefine what family means to them.
Reviews
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 TORONTO BOOKS AWARDS
"Camilla Gibb's new book The Relatives proves she's one of Canada's best storytellers. [She] grabs us from the start with this thriller-paced novel. . . . Taut, suspenseful prose urges us ever forward, probing the deeper connections among her beautifully flawed family of characters. . . . Taking us into the bright and the dark, worlds known and unknown, Gibb's multi-layered tale solves these mysteries with the immense satisfaction that only the best storytellers can deliver." —Toronto Star
"This slim volume packs a punch. Beautifully written, and oh, what a story of family and lives coming together! I loved it." —The Kit
Praise for Camilla Gibb:
"Gibb's writing is laser-like." —Toronto Star
"Gibb's prose is elegant and sings with an almost Victorian delicacy and sophistication: Dickens, interrupted." —San Francisco Chronicle
"An extraordinary Canadian talent. . . . The intricacy of Gibb's language transports you." —Edmonton Journal
"Anger, honesty, compassion, fear, wit and insight electrify Gibb's deft sentences, singing the importance of belonging, of self-worth and of story." —Winnipeg Free Press
"A debunker of stereotypes and a seeker of the big picture, [Gibb] isn't satisfied with merely creating convincing characters and a bold plot. She educates and enlightens the reader." —Montreal Gazette
"Gibb's thoughtful and intricate writing weaves an unforgettable portrait . . . and her observations of humanity make clear the similarities in all of us." —The Seattlest
CAMILLA GIBB was born in London, England, and grew up in Toronto. She is the author of four internationally acclaimed novels—Mouthing the Words, The Petty Details of So-and-so's Life, Sweetness in the Belly and The Beauty of Humanity Movement—as well as the bestselling memoir This is Happy. Camilla has been the recipient of the Trillium Book Award, the City of Toronto Book Award and the CBC Canadian Literary Award and has been shortlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize and the Scotiabank Giller Prize. She has a Ph.D. from Oxford University and is an adjunct faculty member of the graduate creative writing programs at the University of Toronto and the University of Guelph.
