More Canadian Fiction

Finished December 7
What They Wanted by Donna Morrissey
This is a follow-up book to her earlier Sylvanus Now. This book concentrates on Sylvanus' children, Sylvie and Chris. Sylvie has been working out in boomtown Grande Prairie, Alberta following her university degree. She has come home to be with her family when Sylvanus has a heart attack, and old family tensions arise again, particularly between Sylvie and her mother.
When Sylvie returns to Alberta, Chris insists on coming along and finds a job on an oil rig. Both children feel the responsibility of helping their parents, younger brother Kyle, and their grandmother financially. Sylvie joins Chris at the rig as a cook's helper and the two find their way in the small community with its own tensions. Added to the mix are old family friend Ben, who Sylvie has always had feelings for, and his friend Trapp.
Morrissey really gets into the characters lives. We already knew that her knowledge of Newfoundland life was intimate, but she also shows the same intimate knowledge of life in the boomtown of Alberta and on the rigs. She also really gets inside Sylvie's head emotionally, and I felt Sylvie's emotions intensely throughout the book.
Morrissey just keeps getting better, and this book is a winner.