McGill News awed by Stunt's acrobatics

Eugenia Ledoux, nine years old and alarmingly precocious, lives in a down-at-heel neighbourhood in Toronto. 'Stunt' is the secret nickname her father has given her, since she is fearless and loves to thrill him with her reckless, improvised acrobatics.

In this novel's quirky world, all the characters have colourful names: Eugenia's ghoulish and exquisitely beautiful sister is named Immaculata. Their narcissistic mother—an exotic dancer turned B-movie actress—is called Mink. And their father's name is Sheb Wooly Ledoux.

Devoted to her eccentric, gifted father, Eugenia's world is turned upside down when he abandons the family, leaving a cryptic note addressed only to her mother and sister. What follows is a darkly comic coming-of-age story, an extended ode to unrequited love, and a journey into the wilds of Toronto and Eugenia's own psyche.

A playwright recognized for her offbeat and vividly imaginative style, Claudia Dey is essentially a word artist who paints with poetry. Stunt positively sings with evocative character details, pithy dialogue and astonishing wordplay. Describing one character, Dey captures his essence as he heads to his front door, 'withering into the shape of a question mark as he draws near.'

With elements of magic realism, the new wave fabulists and Charlie Kaufman movies, Stunt walks the treacherous tightrope between reality and fantasy with the greatest of ease. And in balancing a story that is playful, poignant, breathtaking and surreal, Dey performs quite a dazzling stunt, thrilling us with her fearless writing.