Book of the Month–October 2011
Benevolence
By: Cynthia Holz
Ben Wasserman and Renata Moon have lost their ability to connect. Married for almost a decade, they share squabbles over take out food but keep their feelings to themselves. Although they realize their marriage is failing, they are unable or unwilling to repair the damage. Ben is an organ transplant psychiatrist. His most recent patient is Arthur, a man who wants to donate a kidney to his ailing neighbour. Although desperate to find goodness in the world, Ben is skeptical about Arthur’s apparen'tly altruistic motives but soon a friendship is formed between the two men.
Renata, a psychologist and phobia specialist, treating Stella, a woman who survived the train crash that killed her husband. Her announcement that she is pregnant has a profound effect on Renata, who is unable to conveive a child herself.
Reviews
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The National Post
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About the Author
Cynthia Holz was born in New York City. After graduating from the City University of New York, she worked extensively as a journalist. In 1976, she moved to Toronto to be the Canadian correspondent for Business Week magazine. She subsequently left journalism to pursue a career in fiction writing but has also taught writing at Ryerson University and served as Toronto Public Library’s Writer in Residence in 1999.
Benevolence is her fifth novel.
Author Interviews
BookLounge.ca
The National Campus and Community Radio Association (audio)
Zoomer
Readalikes
Fiction by Cynthia Holz
A Good Man
Home Again (short stories)
Onlyville
Semi-Detached
Other Fiction
Footprints by Shelby Hearon
Happiness Sold Separately by Lolly Winston
The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry
Nonfiction
Moonface by Angela Balcita
That’s How the Light Gets In: Memoir of a Psychiatrist by Susan Rako
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