The Year of Tragical Drinking

The year Glenda May Richards returned to Canada to look after her sister with Down Syndrome was not the year she gave up drinking – it was the year she gave in to it. Into the memories made, both traumatic and magical... it was ‘The Year of Tragical Drinking’. There are many books about raising a child with Down Syndrome – this one is about looking after an adult with Down Syndrome. A memoir written not from the perspective of a parent, but from a sister. Throughout the year Glenda takes her sister Ann to activity programs, coffee shops and movies. She buys her Archie comics. It snows a lot. She drinks bottles of red wine and unpacks her family’s past. Ann’s birth. Her mum's death. Her sister’s lesbian divorce. Her own lushy marriage. Her abundance of boozy misadventures. Anyone who has a family member or friend with Down Syndrome will relate to Ann. And anyone who’s had a hangover will relate to Glenda! Together, their story shows the up side of Down.