Lemons. That bright yellow fruit which you can’t eat right off the tree (its tart, sour taste will tell you why). However, the lemon is a very diverse fruit. It shows its sweet side by adding slices to water and sugar (aka lemonade), or in mixed cocktails, or as a pound cake or meringue pie (personally speaking, I like my lemons in a cup of hot tea).
Montreal author Jonathan Reisler, in his latest book, interprets the bitter and sweet sides of the lemon —directly and indirectly—in a collection of engaging short stories called The Lemonade Stories.
The 24 stories that make up this collection are divided into four lemon/lemonade-related chapters: sweet, sour, juicy, and cool & refreshing. And Reisler certainly knows how to knit (or should I say “squeeze”) a good, readable yarn. The stories in this book can entertain, make you laugh out loud, stir nostalgia, and tug at your heartstrings.
However, this collection also doubles as an ongoing guessing game, in which the reader doggedly finds out where the lemon references—whether they’re part of the story’s narrative or not—are inserted. It’s similar to watching an Alfred Hitchcock movie, and trying to find where and when the Master of Suspense makes his customary brief cameo appearance (without distracting from the plot).
Some personal favorite story highlights from the book include The End of the Cold War (which involves a touring troupe of can-can dancers from St. Petersburg, circa 1989); Het Rad Van Fortuin (a young man’s introduction to the world of magic and tarot cards thanks to a magic store that is reminiscent of the legendary Henry Gordon’s on Queen Mary Road); Cleopatra (which chronicles the rise of and fall of a fashion blogger turned celebrity journalist); Walking the Dog (the melodramatic story of Rusty the dog and his up and down relationship with the Castleman family that will have you emotionally choked up as if you were watching an episode of Lassie); and Lemonade Stand (a bittersweet story of a high-strung teenager and the lemonade stand that she runs during the height of the Covid pandemic).
Like the titled beverage itself, The Lemonade Stories is a refreshing literary elixir that deals with both the bitter and sweet sides of life that only the art of the short story can offer, and can be enjoyed with a cool glass of lemonade (or any lemon-related drink of your choice) by your side.
Where to Find It
The Lemonade Stories can be purchased at Bibliophile bookstore, located at 5519 Queen Mary Road, or at amazon.ca. A hardcover edition of the book is also available for $19.99.
