My Writing Life: No Fixed Address by Susin Nielsen

Saturday, September 16, 2023

No Fixed Address by Susin Nielsen

This book is addictive. Once you start it, you can’t put it down. Astrid and her thirteen-year-old son live in a van with their gerbil, Horatio, in Vancouver, Canada. They are homeless. Despite the drama of their experiences, Nielsen makes the story humorous and fun. This is a fast-paced read, but the depth of it is evident in the characters and the plot.

This is the kind of book you want to finish because you desperately want to know what happens to the characters, who are quirky and interesting. Nielsen makes them jump off the page. I am convinced I've met them in person.

Felix is Astrid’s son. “Felix” means lucky and successful. He is very smart and has an excellent memory. His best friends at school are Dylan and Winnie. Winnie is one of my favorite characters, and I love how their friendship unfolds. At the beginning it irked me to read that Dylan and Felix made fun of Winnie, but then they all became inseparable friends. Winnie is socially and environmentally conscious. She is empathetic and authentic. She ignores the bullying altogether and keeps working on her goals and motivations.

No Fixed Address will keep you on tenterhooks till the end.

The story is told from Felix’s point of view in the form of a diary. The narrative is compelling. As I read the novel the city of Vancouver became vivid in my mind.

The author did not give the characters a break. Every day is a challenge of unpredictable proportions. The hurdles that Felix and Astrid encounter make the reader seethe with anger, and, to make matters worse, Astrid keeps getting in trouble, so the story becomes even more riveting as you approach the end.

No Fixed Address made me think about the intersection between homelessness and domestic violence. It also made me wonder about the vulnerability of homeless women and the violence they have to endure. I searched for reporting on these subjects but I found very little information. There was an article from a San Francisco journal about the violence that homeless women endure in the city of San Francisco, but it is not a free access article that I can share. I also found an article from The Guardian about the plight of women in UK who have to choose between being homeless or staying with an abuser because of the lack of social support in their system. I was astonished by the lack of reporting on this critical issue, but then I realized that the main media outlets are dominated by men. Furthermore, research has shown that 90 percent of both men and women globally are biased against women. It is probably easier to sell articles that vilify women than to bring the spotlight on issues of gender inequity and inequality.

The end of No Fixed Address is satisfying and hopeful. My eyes were two water fountains... I daresay that it is a happy ending, because happy does not mean perfect. The story highlights the power of kindness, human connection and empathy.

This book is classified as young adult fiction. I recommend it to teenagers and adults of all ages, and I hope the author will write a second book to let us know how these endearing characters are doing.