Beginning of Was

Marta has grown up in the midst of loss and has learned to adapt and thrive.

But when her young daughter and alcoholic husband die in a car wreck, there is no way to cope. 

She flees her small Ontario town, her home, her memories...and finds herself on the doorstep of a church in downtown Toronto, with no place else to turn. 

She develops tentative relationships at the margins of this community, growing close to an old woman who is preparing to die and to a young girl her own daughter's age.

But there is no escaping the past. Memories insinuate themselves into her new life. The struggle between memory and experience, between life and death, begins to dominate her thoughts.

Only by reliving her own story can she find the means and the strength to shape a future.

About the Author

Ania Szado ’s novel Beginning of Was was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (Best First Book, Canada/Caribbean). She lives in Toronto and holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia.