All My Puny Sorrows

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses suicide. 

Yoli Von Riesen is the protagonist and first-person narrator of the novel. Her given first name is Yolandi, but her friends and family refer to her as Yoli throughout the novel. Her parents are Jack and Lottie Von Riesen and her older sister is Elf (Elfrieda) Von Riesen. Yoli grew up in East Village, a Mennonite community in the Winnipeg town of Canada’s Manitoba province. In the narrative present, Yoli is in her forties and lives full time in Ontario’s capital city, Toronto. She resides here with her teenage daughter, Nora. Yoli is in the process of divorcing Nora’s father, Dan, at the novel’s start, signaling that her life is in flux. She also has a son named Will, whom she had with her ex, Barry. Will lives in New York City, and Yoli primarily keeps in touch with him via text. Her disconnected family life and remote relationships reinforce the challenge of her primary conflict: her desire to keep Elf alive.

Yoli is a passionate, empathetic character who devotes herself to her sister’s care and well-being. Yoli and Elf have been close since they were children.