Reviews | Leesa Dean, author

Reviews, Waiting for the Cyclone:

"The stories in Waiting for the Cyclone announce the arrival of a confident and original new voice. Leesa Dean effortlessly--or so it seems--grabs the readers attention and doesn't let go, revealing the comedy, cruelty, tenderness and shame native to every human relationship. A remarkable debut." 2017 Trillium Award Jury Citation

"Leesa Dean sets up her stories and has the reader fill in the unsaid with their own imagination. She does it magnificently . . . There’s life and beauty in every story. Dean hits her notes perfectly, and brings the coming storm to their world in a beautifully filtered and poetic reality." Portland Book Review

“Waiting for the Cyclone is a radiant debut—beautifully written, passionate, and whip smart—from a refreshing new voice bound to make her mark in Canadian literature.” Ayelet Tsabari, author of The Best Place on Earth

“Far from shelter, readers will find themselves pulled closer and closer to the eye of this storm. Brace yourself: these women are unflinchingly real. You will not be able to look away.” Elisabeth de Mariaffi, author of The Devil You Know

“Subversive, illicit, and with a knack for final lines packed with innuendo, Waiting for the Cyclone

is a pleasure readers need not feel guilty about.” Quill & Quire

"Whether it is a woman leaving a relationship or another in search of the mother who gave her up or a young girl looking at her female role models, there is a weight to these poignant stories that lingers." YAM Magazine

"...In Waiting for the Cyclone, the through-line [is] a gale-like force pushing the narrative in a surprise direction – not a twist ending, but a destination unheralded at the beginning. Departures and arrivals are significant. Most of Dean’s focal characters are girls and young women far from being delicate flowers." The Globe and Mail

"Leesa Dean’s debut collection, Waiting For The Cyclone, is tried and true storytelling. Each story has a hook, subsequent reading is effortless; each has a clear arc happily married to its characters, who are realized through believable dialogue and use of telling details. The prose, erring on the side of spareness, is efficient and evocative enough to do justice to often superb plotting." Broken Pencil Magazine