The Incident Report

Finished March 16
The Incident Report by Martha Baillie
This novel has an intriguing format. With the narrator, Miriam, an employee of the Public Libraries of Toronto, in the Allan Gardens branch, the book begins with a form used by the library to report on incidents that take place in the library. The rest of the book is in the form of short (sometimes very short) incident reports that consist of descriptions of events that take place in the library, in her personal life, or in her past. It was a very different way to tell a story and yet it worked in a very good way. The short sections made it easy to change scenes, introduce new characters and emphasize certain events.
Of course, as a librarian, I could also relate to some of the strange encounters one has with patrons, and the rewarding ones. A very interesting read with a few surprises along the way.