A Truce That Is Not Peace

by Miriam Toews

An astonishing masterwork of memoir from one of our most renowned and acclaimed writers, telling pieces of her own story in nonfiction for the first time.

“Why do you write?” the organizer of a literary event in Mexico City asks Miriam Toews. Each attempted answer from Toews—all of them unsatisfactory to the organizer—surfaces new layers of grief, guilt, and futility connected to her sister’s suicide. She has been keeping up, she realizes, a decades-old internal correspondence, filling a silence she barely understands. And we, her readers, come to see that the question is as impossible to answer as deciding whether to live life as a comedy or a tragedy.
Marking the first time Toews has written her own story in nonfiction, A Truce That Is Not Peace explores the uneasy pact every creative person makes with memory. Wildly inventive yet masterfully controlled; slyly casual yet momentous; wrenching and joyful; hilarious and humane—this is Miriam Toews at her dazzling best, remaking her world and inventing a brilliant literary form to contain it.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Biography Memoir, Canada, Psychology, Biography

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2025

About the author

Miriam Toews is a Canadian writer of Mennonite descent. She grew up in Steinbach, Manitoba and has lived in Montreal and London, before settling in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Toews studied at the University of Manitoba and the University of King's College in Halifax, and has also worked as a freelance newspaper and radio journalist. Her non-fiction book "Swing Low: A Life" was a memoir of her father, a victim of lifelong depression. Her 2004 novel "A Complicated Kindness" was her breakthrough work, spending over a year on the Canadian bestseller lists and winning the Governor General's Award for English Fiction. The novel, about a teenage girl who longs to escape her small Russian Mennonite town and hang out with Lou Reed in the slums of New York City, was also nominated for the Giller Prize and was the winning title in the 2006 edition of Canada Reads.

A series of letters she wrote in 2000 to the father of her son were published on the website www.openletters.net and were profiled on the radio show This American Life in an episode about missing parents.

In 2007 she made her screen debut in the Mexican film "Luz silenciosa" directed by Carlos Reygadas, which screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

In Sept. 2008, Knopf Canada published her novel "The Flying Troutmans", about a 28-year-old woman from Manitoba who takes her 15-year-old nephew and 11-year-old niece on a road trip to California after their mentally ill mother has been hospitalized.

The book, Irma Voth, was released in April 2011. Her latest book, All My Puny Sorrows, was published in April 2014.

For more information see Miriam Toews (1964–) Biography - Personal, Addresses, Career, Honors Awards, Writings, Adaptations, Sidelights

The following is an interesting article written by Miriam Toews:
http://lithub.com/how-pacifism-can-le...

Reviews

[CarolG · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only book by Miriam Toews that I've read (actually listened to) is "Women Talking" but I thought this memoir would be interesting. And it was. A very unusual presentation in that it's not linear but bounces all over, back and forth from the past to more recent times, consisting of remembrances, correspondence, quotes, etc. At first, I was like ????, but as I got used to the format I started to enjoy it more. She's certainly had some traumatic occurrences in her life but she has a great sense of humour and I'm really impressed by how much she loves her grandchildren. Her desire to create a wind museum is something totally different but tongue-in-cheek I imagine. Who knew there were so many different types of wind in the world?! Near the end of the book she mentions her mother's trigeminal neuralgia. This is an extremely painful disorder my sister suffered from years ago for which she underwent surgery. I've never heard it mentioned anywhere else until now. As fascinated as I was, I'm a total outlier and couldn't give the book any more than 3 stars. I'd be interested in reading some of the novels in her catalogue if I can find the time. Another Canadian author to be proud of!

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada|Knopf Canada via Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this memoir in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Publication Date: August 26, 2025

[Emma Griffioen]

A memoir (my favourite genre) by my favourite author? This is the best news ever. Netgalley better pull through with the ARC. 😭🤞🏻

Her books were #1 on my top 10 the past 2 years, I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being my favourite book of 2025.

[theliterateleprechaun]

What did I just read .... or TRY to read?! 😤

[Wendy Greenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

My experience of reading Toews' fiction is that it flouts convention. This is why I love her work. This memoir is similarly off-script.

She is asked (with other writers) to produce a piece for a conference on "Why do you Write". Her responses play out through this memoir. None of them fit the conference brief. This is exactly the point, my opinion is that writers respond to life in a million ways and cannot be boxed into what is expected and this is the joy of reading.

Toews' life bleeds into her fiction so this work is not unexpected. She was brought up in a Mennonite community and inevitably the suicide of her sister and the long silences in her family colour her world. The narrative is episodic, back and forth (non-linear) through life's happenings and her contemporary and reflected emotions.

Her skill in balancing deep trauma with humour is extraordinary. The layering of her life is compulsive and I found it revealed itself in much of the way that we all get to know people, superficial to in-depth in fits and starts.

I loved this. I love that she does not conform and for myself I find that Toews' response to "Why Do You write" is just perfect. Works for me.

With thanks to #NetGalley and #4thestatebooks for the opportunity to read and review

[Kevin]

Oh my God! Please attach this book to my body asap.

[Jeatherhane Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I don’t believe my father and my sister were impulsive. They’d spent their lives planning their deaths, living their deaths, almost dying everyday, dying almost every day.”

If you’ve read Miriam Toews’ fiction, you’ll know that one of the most predominant themes in her work is suicide. Her life and her writing have been consumed with trying to understand the deaths of her father and sister.

In this memoir, Toews has created a fictional premise – she has been invited by the Conversación Comité in Mexico City to share a story or an essay on the subject “Why do I write?” The memoir tries to answer this question, never to the satisfaction of the Director of the Comité. Maybe not to the author’s own satisfaction, either.

None of it is chronological or complete. It is heartbreaking and funny, like her fiction. The short book includes letters that Miriam wrote to her sister Marj when the former was traveling in Europe. Vignettes about her family life, now and then. Musings about starting a wind museum. Trying to connect silence, suicide, and writing. And it’s about living with all of this and maybe never understanding it.

“Okay, Conversación Director. The writing is the reason. And 42.”

[Laurie Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is interesting for sure, a memoir coming out from Miriam Toews in August 2025.

I have always been a big Miriam Toews fan, and have read almost everything she has written, so it was really interesting to get to read her memoir, although in a sense, it certainly doesn't read like a traditional memoir. In fact, sometimes it reminded me of "Ducks, Newburyport" by Lucy Ellmann in it's randomness and 'here is exactly what I am thinking' style of essays and arbitrary thoughts.

Toews has had a full life, with a lot of ups and downs, and some often real sad moments, but she maintains a sharp humour and wit. There are acute observations, and feelings of a deep sense of regret.
A lot of pondering on birth, and death and love as a balm.

[Tia]

I think boring people who want a conventional memoir will struggle with this but those who read it for what it is and who like questions and thoughts and memories and observations and tenderness and empathy will like it (so did I).

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t love this “memoir” by Canadian literary icon Miriam Toews at all. The one thing I will say is it’s a quick read but honestly it felt like the author was asked to write something and she just did it for the money. I wanted more vulnerability and openness not random musings. But that’s just my humble opinion. This is totally skip-able if you ask me.

[Robin S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

My queen.

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 ⭐

Thanks Netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for my unbiased review!

I am a HUGE fan of Miriam Toews, having read every book she has published. I discovered her when I was in high school, growing up in the same town and culture she grew up in, which often serves as the backdrop of her novels.

This memoir isn't your typical one; it jumps back and forth between time, space, memory, and imagination. Billy Ray-Belcourt helped me change my perspective on the art of storytelling and breaking free from the typical moulds, and I think this aligns with his world. Toews pushes boundaries with this, and that may deter some people.

Because Toews and I had similar upbringings, I have learned a lot about myself through her writing. I've felt seen and understood, and this book is no different. I realize I have always wondered how she navigates the world, especially because two of her immediate family members died by suicide. And this book provides a small window into her life, which I love! Just like her works of fiction, she somehow artfully weaves in humour amidst tragedy. Maybe (totally) humour is how she has coped with hardship? While reading this book takes some intense u-turns, from shock to laughing out loud, back to shock.

This book is an ode to writing and being an artist and why artists create. As someone who loves photography, I often have an unexpressable desire to take pictures, almost like a compulsion, so reading this I was thinking alot about why I do what I do.

[Jen Burrows · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Truce That Is Not Peace is an inventive memoir of voice, identity and grief from writer Miriam Toews.

Toews has been asked to write a piece on 'Why do you write' for a literary event, which she repeatedly fails to do. But in this eclectic collection of memories, all of which in some way play with the themes of voice and language, she answers this question and more. Writing is at the heart of her identity, her connections with her family and her understanding of the world and the trauma she has experienced: it is as essential as breathing.

As a piece of autofiction, I didn't find this entirely fluid. Sometimes the tonal shifts between light and dark are effective, at others jarring. But as a literary memoir, it's powerful.

*Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review*

[Sam Cheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

Toews’s newest nonfic. work, A Truce That is Not Peace, intersects her older sister’s (Marj) death by suicide at 52 and Toews’s search to understand her reason for writing. Posed as a thought experiment, she pretends to prepare her Conversación piece for the Mexico City conference, answering the question, “Why do I write?” In memoir-ish manner, Toews reveals how Marj “punctuated her life with long periods of [verbal] silence,” while the author naturally feels compelled to write. Yet the why—the meaning—in both cases continually eludes her.

The work includes Toews’s rumination over these concepts: her attempt at ending her life; her dad’s struggle with bipolar disorder, choice to stop speaking in various seasons of his life, and suicide; her caregiving to her mom, Elvira (90); and her role as a grandmother. Prompted by Marj’s request to hear about Toews’s hitchhiking trip in Europe, the author recounts her motivation for writing letters to keep Marj alive. She incorporates these letters into the book. In turn, Marj teaches Toews that writing keeps her (Toews) alive.

Additionally, Toews entwines the following concepts within her larger project: she invents an organizing theme for her metaphorical Wind Museum to emphasize her perception of her work’s questionable worth; she parleys with her ex-husband for her royalties; the magnetism of character-driven books wherein the author avoids a narrative and opts for readers to observe and to experience living. And there’s a skunk clawing its way into her house, a metaphor for home-going. Toews appraises plenty of ideas, and in their fragmented form, she depicts a cohesive yet incomplete answer to her raison d’être.

Capturing Freud’s notion of “a natural unhappiness,” Toews names the book after a line in Christian Wiman’s The Limit. I found the work captivating and affecting in its quiet nature, and I celebrated how Elvira and the grandkids bring life, if you will, to the pages. Perhaps the timing of my read, on the heels of Calabro’s piece on MAiD in The Atlantic’s September issue, which has been stewing on my mind, adds to my experience of “staying with” Toews in her sorrow, her pain, her sadness. For her, life lies in the met fragments of effort, in silence and words; A Truce That is Not Peace will do.

I hope I run into Toews on Queen W, both en route to Type Books.

I rate A Truce That is Not Peace 4.5 stars. My thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC.

[Jodie Ponto · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an absolute joy to read a new book from your favourite authors! This is a short & loose memoir written as she tries to prepare for a writer’s conversation on the theme of “Why Do I Write?”. Her answer gets her appearance at the event cancelled but gives us this beautiful book. It’s a dream-like picture of her life present & past told through a series of memories, letters, conversations, and everyday observations. One of the things I love most about her books is how they manage to be heavy & light at the same time. This is no exception … so many chuckles laced with so much grief over her father and sister’s suicides. If you are a fan of Miriam Toews you will love this book. If you haven’t read her books before I would recommended reading some of them (any of them!) first to get the full effect of this memoir.

[Reid Page-McTurner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ll preface this by saying I think Miriam Toews is a gift to literature; Women Talking is a must read and All My Puny Sorrows and Fight Night have been favourites of mine. If anyone will carry the mantle of Canadian authors it will be her. I loved the first half of this book but it lost steam for me when she inexplicably wanders into a lengthy segment with a former lover. The rest- the exploration of guilt and trauma. The wind museum bits. The strange and unassuming way she gets under your skin… genius. Toews comes from Manitoba, the province next to my native Saskatchewan and I said to my mom that Toews writes like the prairie: seemingly flat but full of subtle magnificence. 3/5
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#miriamtoews #atrucethatisnotpeace

[Chloe Hasson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A memoir by my favourite author? Don’t mind if I do. This book was so perfectly Miriam Toews: relatively plotless with an obvious through line discussing grief.
I got an advanced copy from the publisher but wanted to savour the end of it and finished it last night. Always looking forward to her next release. Might be time for a mass reread of her work!

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miriam Toews is one of my favourite authors and so I am incredibly biased and not at all objective in my ratings and reviews.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will read anything Miriam writes

[Reagan Kapasi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Especially the stream of consciousness.

[Sophie Kok · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Hij klopte met zijn knokkels tegen de zijkant van mijn hoofd, maar wel zachtjes, en hij zei: je bent
helemaal alleen daarbinnen.'

[Roxanne Meek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Miriam Toews. For someone who has lived a life filled with so much sadness she is absolutely hilarious and her 70’s references alone had me laughing out loud. She’s a national treasure ( both Canadian & Manitoban).

This book is written in an unusual style but it’s poignant and funny and Miriam at her best!!

[Julia Jenne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave me chills, made me weepy, it was so beautiful and I feel lucky to have had access to this ALC 🥹 thanks Libro

[kellymross · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a uniquely written memoir that I can only describe as gutting. It’s hard to not give this work 5 stars because of the vulnerability shown and quality writing. The author attempts to answer questions about why she writes and the answers will haunt you. Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miriam Toews is the only writer who can make me laugh whilst recounting devastatingly sad and desperate events: her father’s death by suicide; her beloved sister’s long, I long struggle with depression and eventual death by suicide; her own mental health challenges and her mother’s belief that she didn’t do enough. Her novels, including All My Puny Sorrows (one of my top five books), do this to me. I laugh at what she has written whilst simultaneously gobsmacked that I am laughing. I once described AMPS to a friend as the story of a woman whose deeply loved sister tries to persuade her to help her to die and then achieves it by herself but it’s funny.

I didn’t like A Truce That Is Not Peace as much as All My Puny Sorrows but it explains a lot about why I was both devastated and laughed. Admittedly the ‘letters’ from her 18 year old self to her sister and vignettes about her grandchildren and her mother helped. Crikey! Miriam Toews can write!

Thanks to NetGalley for a pre-publication copy in exchange for an honest review. This week I bought my own hard copy.

[Peter Rock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Today I looked at pictures on the internet of bodies after being hit by trains. But what I'm really trying to do is research winds for my Wind Museum. I tell myself, Just think about wind. Stick with the wind.

x

You've got one week, I said. I walked away and through each quadrant of the park.
Then I went home. I struggled to breathe. I had wanted to tell him that I was so sorry, so sorry for making him cry and cry, in the car, with his ruined ham sandwich, soaked in tears, in an electrical storm at three in the morning, in the rain, huddled in the yard, comforting our terrified dog, and trying to be comforted in exchange by a dog, a dumb dog, in a storm, with dangerous electrical wind, it was so windy, and that I loved him and I missed him and I was so angry with him and so fucked up and so stressed out and so worried and filled with dread, creeping, shape-shifting dread, and could I just sit next to him, breathing, remembering-just sit very close to him with his arm around my shoulders at that stupid fucking picnic table in the north-west quadrant for just one minute?

[Anthony B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katrina recommended this author to me a few weeks ago, specifically The Summer of My Amazing Luck and Fight Night. So I was very pleased to learn the day before it's street date that Toews was releasing a new book and a memoir no less!

This book is weird and nonlinear and touching and funny. I just find Toews to be so charming, I admire her tone. In reading A Truce That Is Not Peace, I had a feeling of expansion and including more than just myself in my self. By this I mean I am debating putting it on my Facts and Reverie list even though it's not particularly about nature. I think I will because the nature of art and writing, or in general someone's craft, is also an awe inspiring part of the world we live in.

I enjoyed connecting some of her real life experiences to her other works. I just know that my writing group is going to eat this up maybe especially her Wind Museum. I look forward to continue working through her bibliography

[Brittin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was simply not for me...not something I say often about a memoir. I think that if I had previous exposure to Toews' work it may have landed differently.

That being said, Toews distinctive brilliance is evident. I loved the below simile.

"Then she stopped making sounds all together. She wrote words that she sent to me on yellow lined paper, her neat sentences straight at first, then dipping downwards at the end like rigid fishing rods with baited lines."

Audiobook: 3h 45m

[Vincent Scarpa · Rating 5 out of 5]

“My sister punctuated her life with long periods of silence. It was during these periods that she begged me to write her letters — about anything, my life, the days — and in that asking was an offering. She taught me how to stay alive. Silence and words: both are good, both are failures, both are efforts, and in that effort is where life lies — not lies, or maybe it does — but where it exists. And the fragments in between are the spaces where she and I meet.”

[Chloe]

hold up hold up hold up

when was this announced?? new miriam toews book, thank you 2025 <3

[Natalie Park · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This read a bit like stream of consciousness. It was not what I was expecting but the writing is always interesting.