Summary

In Part II, “My Evil Mother,” “My Evil Mother,” when the narrator was 15, she called her mother evil. They were arguing about her “new boyfriend, Brian” (51). Her mother was “grinding something in her mortar,” which the narrator knew was a bad sign (51).

The narrator lived with her mother “on the northern margin of Toronto” (52). Her mother kept to herself, but offered the neighborhood women advice. Convinced she was a witch, she would put curses or hexes on their husbands depending on what they wanted. The narrator often told her mother everyone thought she was “a loony” (54). Her mother was unfazed.

The narrator’s mother predicted Brian would die in a car accident. If the narrator stayed with him, she would die too. If they broke up, they would both survive. Although she heard people talking about her...