Review: Wow! A moving, beautifully written novel that will stay with me a long time
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 12, 2014
Writing this review on 11 January, it may not seem much praise to say that this is one of the best books I've read this year - but I am pretty sure I will still be saying that by 31 December.I chose this book because of the intriguing title and beautiful cover, and its setting on Vancouver Island, where some of my relatives lived for many years, but which I never had the good fortune to visit.With regard to the setting, this was powerfully evoked by the writing, bringing the territory to life in great depth, in multi-sensory vividness, such that the island feels like a key character in the book. It takes great skill to incorporate so much description of the scenery without interfering with the flow of the story or slowing the action, but Francis Guenette pulls this off, apparently effortlessly, subtly allowing aspects of the setting to propel the story forward.Another difficult task is to head-hop sympathetically and smoothly so that the reader can understand how a large number of characters is feeling. Again, Guenette does this so masterfully that it's hard to believe this is a debut novel.The proposition of bringing together a number of troubled characters in an isolated spot sounded interesting, and the opening chapters read almost like the set-up of a detective story - what secrets would be uncovered as the characters got to know each other? I had the feeling that I was not so much reading a book as watching the first scenes of a classic play or a major feature film,seeing the cast assemble ready for revelations and resolutions. (This book would make a fabulous play or film, by the way.)The pace of the story was handled well, with details being gently and carefully dispensed at an easily digestible speed, giving the reader time to absorb each revelation and anticipate the next, and to enjoy frissons of anxiety, expectation and hope all the way through. Even so, I had to race through the book, as I cared so much about the characters and was desperate to see how it all turned out for them all: there was so much that could have gone horribly wrong for them, and I couldn't bear to wait.As a complete optimist, I was rooting for hope and a happy ending, as I'd grown to love and respect the characters so much, while getting to know and understand them better. The conclusion, executed with great care and masterful timing, had the beauty and elegance of the end of a symphony.As an aside: by chance last night I watched a documentary about one of my favourite pieces of music, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, which begins and ends with a simple, solitary note, topping and tailing a growing and declining interaction of very different types of musical instrument, including harmoniess, clashes, and surprises, even shocks, which make the simple ending so much more poignant and rewarding. It seemed the perfect match for the arc of this book. I hope that makes sense to anyone else who knows and loves that music as much as I do.I can't remember the last time I cried at the ending of a book, but boy, this one did it for me. Beautiful. Thank you, Francis Guenette.