Described as semi-autographical, the first part of this debut novel by the Canadian author is set in the developing coal mining town of New Waterford, Cape Breton pre-WWI and extends to the Great Depression. The prominent role of the Catholic Church, the poverty, and the limited role of women is fully described. This must be based loosely on some family history. By page 110, the horrors of trench warfare are depicted in gruesome detail.
The plot, although based on the lives of two families of Scottish and Arabian origin, becomes impossibly complex by the third generation, as they reproduce like rabbits. Furthermore, the narrative jumps around in time and space with as many as nine times and sites mentioned in a few pages. The language is flowery and poetic, and there are some inventive poems. But it is difficult to distinguish between what children are imagining or dreaming and what is really happening.
By far the best part of this book, in my opinion, is the 81-page diary of one of the main characters, Kathleen who has moved to New York in 1918 to train as an opera singer and describes the vibrancy and dynamism of the war-obsessed city.
The language is flowery and poetic. “She sings like twelve saxophones and a freight train; she wears about a pound of gold. The band tries to keep up with her. She is no lady. Her songs are unbelievably unhappy or lewd. It is called the Blues.” Unfortunatately, it is also where Kathleen gets pregnant by a soldier departing for the war. The diary morphs into a monologue interspersed with the travels of Lily on foot from New Waterford to Manhattan. She and Kathleen experience the New York music scene, with Blacks singing the early Blues, racism, gays, lesbians, and the impoverished. There are many premature deaths. I was confused as Kathleen relates that she had her period, after having sex with the departing sailor, the only heterosexual encounter described by her but then gets pregnant after becoming a lesbian, and dies trying to deliver twins. This is not the only loose end that left me confused.
5.5/10
Thanks, Michelle.
The Passionate Reader 