Reviewed by Benoit Chartier
This book of short stories is like going through the effects of an eccentric lost loved one, piece-by-piece, allowing each one's memory to wash over you before putting it down with a smile. A kind soul with curious habits, perhaps. You never know what to expect next, and not only in tone and style, but in genre and format as well. Some are familiar, but different from what you remembered. Others are joys of discovery. Some cause anguish, and there are those who catch you completely off-guard. They are snapshots of Canadian lives made up of whole cloth, but could have happened nonetheless. There are truths within the pages that you never knew you needed to face. Anita Dolman expertly tugs at the heart-strings, but does not leave it unsatisfied, only more full of curiosity.
There is the story of a telepathic woman who works in a convalescent home. She meets a kind young man in a coma, and friendship ensues. Then we have the lawyer in a small town whose wife edits the local paper… who happen to be living the same lives as the previous lawyer and his wife. A mystery pianist torn between two worlds. The owner of a bed and breakfast who discovers a terrible secret. An elderly couple living on a campground who have powers beyond anything imaginable.
These are just a handful of the tales that make up this collection of twenty. It really is impossible to say more without giving away the punch. As we all know, one of the salient points of short stories is how they are upended, in the end. In this case, Dolman does not disappoint.
Lost Enough is published in 2017 by Morning Rain Publishing.