Nomi Nickel lives with her father, Ray, in East Village, a small Mennonite town in Manitoba. She dreams of escaping to the big city, but since her mother and sister left home, its hard to imagine leaving her father behind. As she begins to piece together the story behind her mothers disappearance, she finds herself on a direct collision course with the towns minister. W Nomi Nickel lives with her father, Ray, in East Village, a small Mennonite town in Manitoba. She dreams of escaping to the big city, but since her mother and sister left home, its hard to imagine leaving her father behind. As she begins to piece together the story behind her mothers disappearance, she finds herself on a direct collision course with the towns minister. With fierce originality and brilliance, Miriam Toews takes us straight to the centre of Nomis world and the complicated kindness at the heart of family life.