The Broad Side
reflections on a long life
Canada, Insomniac Press, 2015
PAPER – ISBN
ISBN 978-1-55483-157-9
HTML – ISBN
ISBN 978-1-55483-166-1
“This is one of those books you simply cannot stop thinking
about after you have finished reading it. Eve shares her life
story in an honest and life-affirming way.”
—Don Oravec, President, Project Bookmark Canada
“This narrative of a self-labeled contrarian ‘hybrid’ traces all
the contradictions that come with living with a past while
forging a new future. A fascinating read.”
—Maureen Fitzgerald, Sexual Diversity Studies, University
of Toronto
“Resolutely unsentimental and self-effacing, Eve Zaremba
may be a perennial outsider, but her memoir reveals as
much about the various worlds she has navigated as it
does about her own strength and resourcefulness. The
Broad Side is a punchy, honest, and fascinating read.”
— Simon Wynberg
“Eve Zaremba’s memoir presents a full life, intensely
lived, from a childhood ended by exile to adulthood in
an unknown country that grew into home. Feminist,
writer, lover, activist, and—always—a critic of sloppy
thinking, Eve’s created a remarkable story.”
— Cynthia Flood, author of Red Girl, Rat Boy
“A fascinating and affecting memoir of loss and endurance
and a life re-created and lived large. Zaremba’s open
mind and generous spirit animate every page of the
story she recounts.”
— Nancy Richler, author of The Imposter Bride
“In spite of its chronological structure, this is not a
memoir in the usual sense. What I admire most about
Zaremba’s approach to the genre is her abrupt interruption
in the narrative in order to make a reflective point very
much in hindsight. These are real nuggets from 80-
some well-lived years. That who she ‘really’ is—who
any of us really are—is unanswerable. That experiences
are ‘formative’ only in retrospect… That the experience
of exile, which she evokes several times, means ‘received
truths’ are ‘turned on their head.’ Of course, Zaremba
would not have it any other way.”
— Myrna Kostash
In her long life, Eve Zaremba has picked tomatoes, driven a bookmobile, researched Canadians’ junk food preferences, and written lesbian-feminist detective novels. She reflects on those experiences, and the personalities and politics involved, in her memoir, The Broad Side. Eve spent her childhood in 1930s Warsaw, the daughter of a Polish army officer. When the Nazis invaded, she and her family took refuge in England, arriving in Canada in 1952. By the 1970s, Eve was an active part of Toronto’s lesbian-feminist community and a founding collective member of Broadside newspaper. Sharply observant and fearlessly honest, Eve Zaremba’s memories and insights will entertain and provoke readers, often simultaneously. She provides an inside look at a disappearing but hugely influential period in the Canadian women’s movement and the people and ideas that shaped it. Illustrated with photos and ephemera from Eve’s personal collection, The Broad Side makes a sparkling contribution to Canadian feminist history.