Free to Go

In Free To Go, Wanda Ryder's newest novel, we find Nora and Walter Fields, an unassuming farm couple from Manitoba, preparing for their daughter Sandra's wedding. The event puts a strain on the entire family's relationships from the disagreements between Sandra and her brother, Trevor, to Walter's unexplained and withdrawn behavior.

A neighbor, Maggie Kroeger, tries to provide the support that Nora needs, but her unpredictable behavior sometimes gets them both into trouble. When Nora is left to cope with an incorrigible mother-in-law, her husband's abrupt departure and the responsibility of running the farm, she has to rely on assistance from Maggie and her brother, Martin.

Then, when Nora feels compelled to move to Vancouver to be with Trevor, who has been diagnosed with leukemia, she begins a life completely different from any she has ever known. Through the Hope Clinic, Nora meets and makes friends with Colleen and her daughter, Jocelyn, who also has leukemia. The women become close friends and their mutual sense of humor helps ease the worry surrounding their children. Colleen's brother, Ron, also becomes a close friend, although it is Nora who has to help Trevor deal with his condition and the choices he has to make.

When Trevor finally agrees to a bone marrow transplant from Sandra, Maggie comes to stay with Nora and, together, they share the constant hospital visits as well as the day-to-day care and feeding of their beloved patient. Maggie, in her inimitable way, provides much of the humor throughout the book, and in spite of the seriousness of the plot, provides the reader with many laugh-out-loud opportunities.