When I Was Young and in My Prime

This sharply observed, funny, shape-shifting book weaves together voices, lists, and diary entries in a story of one family, in all its ordinary complexity.

«This book is like the nail-and-screw cabinet your grandfather spent a lifetime filling with mismatched nuts and bolts, salvaged finishing nails and old keys, rubber bands, receipts, coins from other countries. Whole histories in each tiny drawer. Alayna Munce inhabits a remarkable variety of voices and landscapes to portray an elderly couple's slow physical collapse and the troubles of a young marriage.» - Michael Crummey, author of 'River Thieves'.

A young woman helps her mother sort through her grandparents' belongings. Her grandmother has died, and her grandfather is preparing to move to a home, but first he will hold an auction.

As they work together she reflects on the untold stories and unsung bonds that make up the life of her family. Meanwhile, the day of the auction looms, and with it all the laughter and dread of family and loss.

«A deeply humane, deeply human book.» - Michael Crummey

«A compassionate and complex account of one family facing the inevitable. Again and again Alayna Munce nails the particular - detail, feeling, world - with unflinching precision and beauty.» - Alison Pick, author of 'The Sweet Edge'

Alayna Munce grew up in Huntsville, Ontario, and now lives in Toronto, where she spends her time writing and working in bars and community centres. She is a past winner of the CBC Literary Award. This is her first novel.