This riotous account of "the family unit" was a smash hit in Europe, Canada, and England. In the Times Literary Supplement, author Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale) praised Barbara Gowdy's novel as surprising and delightful, containing moments "at the same time preposterous and strangely moving." The Canary family guards many secrets, including the mystery of tiny daughter, Joan, who was dropped on her head at birth and has never spoken. Joan plays the piano like Mozart, yet has never had a lesson. The outrageous hilarity rises into a climax that creates a stunning new definition of family togetherness.Gowdy's “delightfully quirky novel”(New York Times Book Review) about an oddball Toronto family is “so brilliantly crafted and flat-out fun to read that she makes sinners of us all” (Washington Post Book World). A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year.