Industrial Roots by Lisa Pike

Review by Rachel Farmer

‘Years later Alice’s grown son would say to her quite earnestly, his tone both honest and sympathetic, “but Mom, what has feminism really ever gotten you?” Alice found that she couldn’t defend herself or disagree because he was right. It hadn’t gotten her shit.’

Raw and often bleak, yet big-hearted at the same time, Lisa Pike’s Industrial Roots is a collection of loosely interconnected short vignettes depicting the lives of Canadian women, the majority of them working class. Judith buckling under the weight of her debts as she struggles to take care of her grandmother; unfaithful Wally being beaten with a stick by his long-suffering wife; middle-aged Marguerite looking for a baby to steal.

The power of these micro-stories comes in part from their interest in the banal, their depiction of the stark everyday. They are an acknowledgement of the lot of so many women in this world while meeting those women exactly where they are—and lifting up their voices all the more.

Pike’s writing sings from the page as her characters, each with their own unique voice, jostle to take centre stage. The author isn’t afraid to lay bare their most intimate moments, exhibiting their deepest vulnerabilities with an uncomfortable candour. Indeed, many of the stories ache with an unnerving sadness. In one story, an elderly woman cooks dinner for husband whose health is failing: ‘It was the part of the day that made her feel useful, bringing her back to a time when she had kids at home and a future that was always waiting to be lived.’ Yet she also treats her characters—her women—with tenderness, as if each of her stories is saying: I see you.

With an expert hand, Pike builds these vignettes, these brief glimpses into her characters interconnected worlds, into a full picture of the spectrum of female experiences in the community she portrays. Her unflinching eye and startling insight have allowed her to create a work of fiction that is both profound and compelling—a worthy addition to the lineup of books by women about women’s experiences.

Industrial Roots is published by Heloise Press, 20th April 2023