''A Year of Lesser'' is the first novel of Canadian author David Bergen. It was published in 1996 by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

in Canada and the United States. The novel won the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award in 1996.

Plot

Johnny Fehr is a

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

Christian working as a salesman and living in a Canadian small town called Lesser, close to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, Manitoba. At the start of the story his father commits suicide. The town of Lesser is a small community and hence every personal thing sooner or later becomes public. Johnny has his own problems like being an alcoholic and also being addicted to drugs. He falls in love with Lorraine and that brings excitement to his life. But he is already married to Charlene and also has kids with her. The scandal breaks open into the society and with turn of events Johnny loses his family of wife and children, his lover and also his few close friends. Coming from orthodox thoughts, people start treating him like a sinner but Johnny wishes to still live with grace and dignity.

Publication and development

''A Year of Lesser'' is the first novel by Bergen. He grew up in the small Canadian province of

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

town of

Niverville, Manitoba Niverville is a town in the Eastman Region, Manitoba, Canada. The town lies between the northwest corner of the Rural Municipality of Hanover and the southeastern portion of the Rural Municipality of Ritchot. Niverville's population as of the 2021 ...

. As the lead character of the novel also belongs to Manitoba, ''

The Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands division. The newspaper was establis ...

'' noted that Bergen's Mennonite upbringing has influenced his writing for the novel. The novel was published in 1996 by

in Canada and the United States.

Reviews and reception

The novel won the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award in 1996. Bergen again won the award in 2005 for '' The Time in Between'' and in 2009 for '' The Retreat''. The graphic design of the book cover by designing firm Concrete Design Communications Inc., art director John Pylypczak and designer Daniel Andreani won the Merit Award by The Advertising & Design Club of Canada in 1996. The cover used a photography by William Eggleston. ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' appreciates the novel as "moving, credible, and subtle" but criticizes for being "long and shapeless overall". American novelist Claire Messud in her ''New York Times'' review mentions that through novel "David Bergen explores what happens when the simplest of contemporary souls asks the biggest questions, and the novel, as rigorously unpretentious as its hero, attests to the ambiguities of the undertaking". Though ''The New York Times'' named the novel as "a notable book", * it did not have a successful sell in the United States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Year of Lesser, A 1996 Canadian novels HarperCollins books Novels set in Manitoba Novels about Mennonites