"Writing on many levels at once is a skill that Gunn draws on with great success . . . Gunn develops a lively cast of characters
– a collection of idiosyncrasies rife with strengths, weaknesses, fault lines and hidden passages – to create multi-dimensional, heartbreakingly
human people. . . the way Gunn enfolds you into the mindset of her main characters is particularly moving, and her sensitive rendering
of love and loss is remarkably astute.” -subTerrain, Fall/Winter 2002
“In her latest novel, Tracing Iris . . . Gunn
confirms her special skill for weaving complex narrative patterns.” - Books in
“Gunn is a
skilled layerer of foundations . . . If one of the chief jobs of a novelist is to raise as many questions as she answers (and stimulate
further reading), Gunn definitely achieves this . . . Tracing Iris digs deep. There’s little comic relief in this harrowing
novel by a gifted West Coast writer.” - The Globe & Mail, November 2001
“Gunn is. . . interested in probing
Kate’s emotional wilderness...and deftly selects words for their sound as much as for their meaning. She introduces sections with
italicized poetic meditations, soothing and jarring the reader by turns, a device that aptly reflects Kate’s tormented inner world."
- Quill & Quire, October 2001
"Gunn, an accomplished jazz singer as well as a writer, tells this story of relationships and
sleuthing..." - The
"In her writing, Genni Gunn goes in search of the mother within her, the mother
of all literary dreams, the mother that we all want to be and are not. The grace and perseverance with which she follows this missing
mother are at the origin of her elegant, impulsive and disciplined writing." --