Comment

Dec 05, 2016wyenotgo rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This is a"quiet" book, gracefully written, with above all a compelling sense of place. Hay infuses with love those parts of the book that are set in the woodlands and lakes that those of us living in the southern fringe of central Canada colloquially refer to as "north" (although in geographic terms this is certainly not true north, that vast arctic and sub-arctic landscape that makes up much of this country). That lovingly painted setting alone is likely to endear the book to those of us who have shared that life experience and treasure it. Her accounts of life in Manhattan are, as to be expected, less atmospheric. I seldom comment on titles but in this case I feel compelled to do so: The book covers a period of eight or nine years in the life of a boy. I assume her intent was to present those years as formative, which of course they are, but I still find the title awkward, not doing the book justice. The boy, Jim is skillfully drawn and we get to know him very gradually -- even at the end we are left with the feeling that there are aspects of him that have yet to be revealed. The author clearly loves this boy very much and she wishes us to share that love. The book is also about a marriage that doesn't really work and about the myriad tiresome ways that family members hurt each other, often seemingly without any coherent purpose. Therein lies stark realism, balancing the heart-on-sleeve lyricism that pervades much of the book ; Hay is no Pollyanna. Finally, the book is set in a very real and specific time, that of the Quebec referendum, a period that most of us would be just as happy to forget; but that too lends an air of authenticity. Reading this book requires a bit of patience; excitement there is not. But it succeeds on several levels and merits four stars.