The Fun Times Brigade
From acclaimed author Lindsay Zier-Vogel comes an insightful and heart-rending exploration of motherhood, grief, and the search for identity.
Amy is a new mother, navigating the fog of those bewildering early days and struggling with a role she feels ill-prepared for. It’s the first time in a decade that she hasn’t been living the busy life of a successful children’s musician, and her sense of self is unravelling. To make matters worse, her former bandmates have seemingly abandoned her.
In flashbacks, we see Amy’s journey to artistic success—her stumblings as a solo singer-songwriter and her eventual evolution into acclaim as a children’s entertainer. But as the novel progresses—and Amy grapples with a devastating loss—we come to understand how precarious definitions of artistic success can be and how hard it is to truly find our place in the world.
The Fun Times Brigade examines the enduring challenges of reconciling being an artist with being a mother, and how we ultimately fail and find the need to forgive those we love. It is also a timely reflection on what it really means to have a good life in a world that demands we have—and be—it all, and asserts that amidst the chaos, we can find our way back to our genuine selves.
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Pub date: May 1, 2025
The Fun Times Brigade is available wherever books are sold.
At your local indie bookstore and at:
Indiebound | Bookshop.org
Indigo | Amazon
With pitch-perfect descriptions of the love and panic of new motherhood alongside fresh and authentic stories of music and musicians, Zier-Vogel balances hope and sadness in a truly unique and beautiful story. I could not put this one down.”
—Jennifer Whiteford, author of Make Me a Mixtape
The Fun Times Brigade is a precise evocation of the love, isolation, and identity crisis of early motherhood, beautifully colliding in this novel with ambition, creative drive, and the bumpy road to finding ourselves. Tender, honest, and human in the best ways.
—Heidi Reimer, author of The Mother Act
Lindsay Zier-Vogel’s The Fun Times Brigade is a breathtaking and brilliant novel that so accurately captures the indie music scene, new motherhood and the deeply complicated path of becoming a mother. Zier-Vogel gave words to many thoughts I was never able to express as a new mom, and her story will stay with you for a very long time.”
—Dani Kind, actor, Workin’ Moms
Lindsay Zier-Vogel writes with lightness about love and loss and loyalty. The Fun Times Brigade truly sings.” —Carrie Snyder, author of Francie’s Got a Gun
PRESS
As seen on:
- CP24 Breakfast (watch the interview here)
- CTV's Morning Live's Mother's Day book list (watch here)
- CHCH Morning Live (watch the interview here)
- CBC Radio's Here & Now Tuesday Afternoon Book Club (listen here)
Reading Habits: Novelist Lindsay Zier-Vogel on her love of middle grade fiction and dislike of Hemingway
—Toronto Star
Lindsay Zier-Vogel brings latest work, “The Fun Times Brigade” to Take Cover Books
—The Peterborough Examiner
“There's so much joy and heartbreak and music. It's such a unique story and a beautifully written novel.”
—CBC Radio's All in a Day
Featured in:
- The Toronto Star's 25 book to read in 2025
- CBC Books: 70 Canadian fiction books to read in spring 2025
- 49th Shelf's Most Anticipated Books: Spring 2025
- MER Bookshelf: Motherhood, Literature, and Art, March 2025
- CBC Books: 36 Canadian books you should be reading in May
- Wolsak & Wynn: The M Word: A Roundup for Mother’s Day
“In the moving novel The Fun Times Brigade, a woman navigates new motherhood, hoping not to lose herself as an artist in the process.”
—Foreword Reviews
“A fun, easy-to-read book – despite some of its challenging subject matter – well suited to taking along on a summer road trip.” —Thalia Stopa, Scout Magazine
“This is a beautiful story and a fun read… I highly recommend this book. The last 100 or so pages may make you ugly cry, so read them in private and bring tissues.” —Pamela Sinclair, The Seaboard Review
“You don’t have to be Canadian to appreciate the book’s setting, but it helps. Whether it’s Sleep Country Canada jingles, references to Tim Hortons and Long & McQuade, or binge-watching Schitt’s Creek, this is a pleasantly familiar world.” —Matt Robertshaw, The Heavy Feather Review
“As Amy’s story unfolds and she works through her most complicated feelings about how she might be judged as both a mother and an artist, we see it is more true to accept that meeting all the expectations is impossible. That, instead, a full life is fashioned from the striving and creating, from the screwing up and making amends, and from the deep connections we make along the way.” —Jane Ward, MER Literary
Interviews:
Here Comes The Fun Times Brigade: U of T Arts & Science News
Bookspo podcast with host Kerry Clare: Season Three, Episode 4
Kate Jenks Landry: Just One Question with Lindsay Zier-Vogel
On Creative Writing: Lindsay Zier-Vogel: Crafting stories through community and creativity
Why I Wrote this Book: Lindsay Zier Vogel on The Fun Times Brigade —The Miramichi Reader
Why I Write: Q & A with author Lindsay Zier-Vogel —Stories from the Pink House with Rina Barone
‘Spend less time worrying and more time writing:’ A&S alum Lindsay Zier-Vogel’s advice for aspiring novelists —University of Toronto’s Faculty of Faculty of Arts and Science, via LinkdIn
Reviews:
“The Fun Times Brigade is a true page-turner, one of those books you’ll think about long after you’ve finished reading.” —Ottawa Review of Books
Excerpts:
An excerpt from The Fun Times Brigade —The Miramichi Reader
An excerpt From The Fun Times Brigade — Open Book
