While Colville is a fictional town, it’s evident by the lakeside cottages, “tangle of trees,” and homes perched on rocks of the Canadian Shield, that local author Ramune Luminaire’s debut novel is set in the Kawarthas.
Luminaire, who lives in Big Cedar located between Burleigh Falls and Woodview in Peterborough County, describes Coming of Age … Again as “a love story for older women.” She will be launching the book with a celebration at Take Cover Books in Peterborough’s East City on Thursday, May 15 at 7 p.m.
Luminaire will be joined by local comedian, actress, and entertainer Linda Kash for a post-reading discussion and Q&A. Guests can RSVP to the free event at www.takecoverbooks.ca/events.
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Coming of Age … Again follows Lisa West, a recently retired 61-year-old art school principal and “pillar” of Colville, as she rediscovers and redefines herself, her sexuality, and her relationships when she begins to date again after 20 years of independence. While adjusting to this new world, she also meets a young adult connected to her past and navigates complex relationships with friends and neighbours.
“It’s about relating and relationships in a lot of senses of the word,” Luminaire says. “It’s called Coming of Age … Again because what she discovers is she needs to relearn everything, just as you do when you’re in adolescence.”
Though this is her first published piece of fiction, Luminaine’s creative work has always been at the intersection of storytelling and women’s experiences. Living in London, UK, after moving there from Montreal with her family at 20 years old, she began her career working for women’s and teen magazines. She has also worked in television, specializing in “talking head documentaries” where she interviewed people and encouraged them to tell their stories.
Given that Luminaine has always loved visual arts, when she returned to Canada in 2001 she began a career as a visual artist and educator teaching out of her studio in Big Cedar, in spaces in Peterborough, and for Fleming College’s Haliburton School of Art and Design in the summer.
One of her earliest installations featured her eight-foot portrait drawings of a naked maiden, woman, and crone (defined as “a cruel or ugly old woman”), which later turned into an exhibit in Quebec titled “A Wisdom of Crones” featuring 13 naked women, exhibited alongside an artist’s book full of their stories.
Most recently, Luminaire teamed up with other local artists for the 2017 “Coming of Age” multimedia exhibit in Bowmanville that reflected the social and personal perceptions of aging.
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Naturally, when she began to explore writing “for fun,” Luminaire continued to centre her stories around aging women.
“I’ve always loved a good relationship novel but there was one big problem, which was to me, all the protagonists were so young,” she says.
“I thought ‘Where are all the stories about women grappling with the chaos of being older and all the curve balls that life throws at us?’ You have different expectations and your body’s really different, and I just wanted to read about older women coming to terms with all of that and having relationships.”
So Luminaire wrote the book she wanted to read.
In Coming of Age … Again, Luminaire’s protagonist navigates a discomfort and pain that comes from having sex for the first time since menopause, as well as the unexpected world of dating in retirement.
“While (the novel) covers all the things that a love story would — which is things to do with trust and questioning if this is the right person, with some ‘spicy’ scenes — it’s different when you’re older and when you’re no longer looking for a mate to have children with and to set up a home with,” Luminaire says.
“It’s things like ‘Do I want to lose my independence?’ and ‘What do I want a relationship to look like?’ because when you’re not trying to do those things, you can make it anything.”
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Her character’s career at a local art school is not the only example of inspiration from Luminaire’s own life, as she has based the fictional town of Colville — whose population doubles in the summer months — on towns in the Kawarthas. And while Luminaire lives in a modern home built by her husband on a 50-acre lot, her protagonist lives in a farmhouse on “fifty acres of Ontario granite and forest.”
Scenes of the novel also mirror life in cottage country, from characters driving to nearby lakes for a swim on a hot day to walking the dog through the trees while the calls of Canadian geese set the scene.
There are also references to taking a bus to Minden, trips to “Timmies” for an iced cap, and a local café called “Copper Bean” — which a local reader might liken to Peterborough’s Silver Bean Café.
“It’s definitely the feel of here and the book begins in mud season, and she talks about how she loves the openness of the Canadian countryside, and she lives on a granite ridge surrounded by cedar trees,” Luminaire says, noting her reason for the artistic choice. “It’s very much the Kawarthas. I absolutely love it here. It’s my heaven.”
In addition to the book launch at Take Cover Books, Luminaire will also be doing an author’s talk at the Peterborough Public Library at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 20.
You can order a copy of Coming of Age … Again at www.aospublishing.com/ramune-luminaire and explore her visual art at luminaireart.com.
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