The End of the Day - Claire North

Redhook Books, April 4, 2017.

Four Stars

Charlie has recently taken a new job – as the harbinger of Death. He is the one who comes before Death, sometimes as a courtesy (to honour those who are dying and make a record of their story), and sometimes as a warning (a last chance to change one’s ways and potentially avoid death). While the premise of this novel at first seemed silly and absurd, it is actually quite dark and filled with deep philosophical musings, although it took a while before it all came together for me.

At a job interview after college, Charlie was chosen as the harbinger, partly for his love of music and his lust for life. He is often surprised by the mundane travel methods of a harbinger, such as economy class airplane tickets, organized by the bureaucratic office in Milton Keynes. At first, Charlie is amazed by his new experiences as he travels the world, but it is not long before the responsibilities of a harbinger wear him down. The ordinariness of Charlie’s work life is often humorous, especially in contrast to the dark realities that he sees on his journeys – from the rapidly melting ice of Greenland, to war in Syria, and the lingering racism of the southern United States.

Charlie’s job is to warn people that death is coming, but another important aspect of his work is to bear witness – not only for dying people, but also for whole ways of life that are slowly becoming extinct. He sees the darkest aspects of humanity, such as racism, homophobia and war, and yet he also sees the potential for hope and joy that can come out of our most terrible moments, as people change and adapt. Meanwhile, the other three horsemen of the apocalypse are running wild, creating all kinds of havoc in the human world.

I can’t say much about the plot because there is really not that much to it – this is an unconventional novel that focuses on the human condition rather than specific characters. Each chapter opens with seemingly random pieces of dialogue that seem like nonsense, but in fact these are the voices of humanity, and when woven together they create an intriguing picture of Charlie’s world. Most of all, this is a novel of ideas – Charlie is in fact the harbinger for all of us and our way of life, in which change is always inevitable: “We all die. We don’t have to live our lives fearing it.” (Loc. 3555)

Like North’s other novels, the concepts here are clever and unexpected. Charlie is such a relatable character, which makes this implausible story feel completely believable. In his world, the apocalypse is not sudden but incremental – humanity is destroying itself piece by piece, through prejudice and ignorance. Charlie feels empathy for all kinds of people, even those that are ruled by anger and hate, but he doesn’t let it bring him down. Instead, he believes that he is witnessing “not the death of a world, not the old falling off, but the new being born.” (Loc. 5862) It is only by recognizing the past that we can create a better future for all of us.

I received this book from Redhook Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Beachhead - Christopher Mari

47North, March 21, 2017.

Two Stars

Fifty years after the residents of earth were decimated by a war between powerful winged creatures, the remains of humanity have been relocated to a walled community on the beach of an unfamiliar planet that resembles our own. One group of alien creatures attacked humanity, while another powerful group known as the Orangemen saved these “remnants” of the human race and brought them to the city of New Philadelphia. They were left there with some basic tools and whatever knowledge they had to rebuild civilization, and told to “be good.” They also received several thousand books – most of these were bibles and other Christian-themed texts.

Now, two generations later, most of New Philadelphia believes that the Orangemen are angels sent by God to protect them, while the other group that attacked humanity were Hell’s fallen angels. In contrast, others believe that the celestial battle was more secular, and that the now-captive humans are an experiment that the alien Orangemen are simply observing. Whatever their beliefs, the people on the beach generally get along – until a new family arrives for the first time in fifty years, calling into question everything they knew about the fall of humanity.

In response to these new arrivals, two young soldiers are sent out to the unexplored territory beyond the city walls to find answers – but their exploration only leads to more questions about the nature of humanity. John and Kendra find much more than they thought they would, including a possible explanation for the evolution of their planet. When they bring new information back to their formerly peaceful city, the community descends into chaos.

The Beachhead leans heavily on the bible’s Book of Revelation, although I thought it would eventually stand on its own – but it did not. I was uncomfortable with the implication that questioning the bible can only lead to chaos and war. From the start, I kept thinking that the religious undertones would be subverted by a more exciting and scientific plot, but it never happened. The author seems to be reinforcing his characters’ unquestioning beliefs, and the entire plot became completely predictable. I found the first half entertaining, but the ending and its conclusions about humanity were disappointing.

I received this book from 47North and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Amateurs - Liz Harmer

Knopf Canada, March 21, 2018.

Four Stars

In a world very similar to our own, the largest tech company in the world is PINA (with their logo being a stylized pineapple – remind you of any other companies?), and they have just released an astonishing new product called Port. It is a human-sized pod that offers space-time travel and is powered by nostalgia for the past and the desire to return there. Step inside the port with any time and location in mind, and Port will take you there.

But there is one downfall – Port was released with very little research done, and it was discovered too late that very few people will return from their journeys into the past. No one knows whether they have been swallowed into the fabric of time, or whether they simply do not wish to come back to the real world. And on top of these mysteries, it is soon discovered that the ports are seductive, and they adapt to the people around them with possible intelligence, convincing consumers to enter Port against their wishes. Before long, almost everyone is gone.

The few people that remain in our reality include a small group of hold-outs gathered together in an old church in an unidentified northeastern city. There are about forty people in the group that becomes more like a dysfunctional family, despite their differences. Most members of the group have lost someone to Port – including Marie, who is waiting hopefully for the return of her beloved ex-husband, Jason. She reminisces about their past together to anyone who will listen, despite the fact that he seems egotistical and generally awful. Even though Marie has resisted Port, she is still held prisoner by her nostalgia for an idealized past.

In a parallel storyline, we meet Brandon, head of public relations at PINA during the development, release and aftermath of Port. We learn about the enclave of PINA employees that have been holed up in California since the collapse of civilization as we know it, and see Brandon’s development as he gradually becomes disillusioned with his mentor, Albrecht Doors – the creator of PINA and mastermind behind Port. When Brandon finds out some devastating secrets about Port, he escapes from PINA headquarters and heads north-east to find his estranged mother. Along the way, his path collides with Marie.

The Amateurs reminded me a lot of Atwood’s Oryx & Crake, both in structure and tone. First the post-apocalyptic world is shown, and then the details of the Port technology are explained, and we see how the world as we know it came to be destroyed. The characters are realistic, shown with all their distinct, realistic faults. Despite living in a dystopian near-future, the people in Marie’s group still must deal with the everyday problems of self-doubt, romance, and generally getting along with each other. Their interactions are human and relatable, even at the end of the world.

The idea of Port is intriguing, especially as it extrapolates on how technology can seduce us into sacrificing reality for potentiality. The novel becomes a parable for the ways that our own modern society is disappearing into technology, and shows that even in our desperation to move forward into the future, we have a deep-rooted desire for the past. There is irony in the fact that a complex, futuristic technology is used to access the nostalgia for a simpler past, but it shows how we are unable to resist new and shiny toys, despite the risks. There are biblical undertones here too, underlined in the ending to the novel: “[E]very box, you opened. Every fruit, you ate. You wanted to know. Here you are: here is the story you need.” (Loc. 3903) If The Amateurs at the very least causes readers to question our unthinking acceptance of new technology and those who control it, then yes, it is the story we need.

I received this book from Knopf Canada and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Linden Hills - Gloria Naylor

Open Road Media, March 14, 2017.

Four Stars

Linden Hills was originally published in 1985, and yet it feels so modern and current – it could easily be a satirical reference to race relations in America today. It is the story of an affluent African-American neighbourhood that becomes a symbol of success for its residents. Living in Linden Hills is the highest achievement they can imagine, but getting there is not good enough – one must always strive to move lower down the hill to the wealthiest homes. In this way, Naylor’s novel mirrors Dante’s Inferno, and the descent into hell. As status increases, so does the emptiness within.

The novel begins by describing how Linden Hills came to be. A black man named Luther Needed bought the land from white men who thought they were offloading undesirable property. However, Luther managed to turn the land into a powerful symbol for its black residents – a neighbourhood where they could be successful in their own right, outside of the constraints of segregation and poverty surrounding them. The original inhabitants of Linden Hills strived to create an inclusive space, but now their descendants are obsessed with status, at the risk of their souls.

Rumours abound that the original Luther Needed sold his wife and child into slavery in order to purchase the land that would become Linden Hills. Now, his great-grandson and de facto leader of the Hills – also called Luther Needed – struggles with the equally unsavoury rumours that surround him. We view the neighourhood through the eyes of two teenage boys, who ramble around Linden Hills, looking for odd jobs to do. Willie comes from a poor family living nearby, while Lester grew up in the Hills. As they move throughout the community, the boys contrast their perspectives and learn shocking secrets about the people they thought they knew.

More than an allegory for the modern descent into hell, Linden Hills is an analysis of the American dream and its consequences. It examines the dangers of conformity and the damages of progress. Using white standards as a measure of conformity, the residents of this black community compromise their real desires in order to show the outer world a certain image.

The individual lives of the people of Linden Hills are told like short stories that can almost stand on their own, although Naylor weaves them together with impressive skill. The ending, for Luther and the others, feels inevitable, but certainly not uplifting. This is a socioeconomic study of race, class and gender, steeped in a gritty version of reality. The inhabitants of Linden Hills escaped from a history of slavery and segregation, only to fall into the self-imposed slavery of wealth and status, where nothing is ever good enough. This is a novel I will be thinking about for awhile, and it should be considered required reading in today’s political climate.

I received this book from Open Road Media and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Idiot - Elif Batuman

Penguin Press, March 14, 2017.

Five Stars

The Idiot is the coming of age story of Selin, the daughter of Turkish immigrants, as she moves from her home in New Jersey to begin her freshman year at Harvard in 1995. Brilliant and outstanding as a high school student, Selin finds herself thrown into a group of multicultural and multilingual characters as broad as the cast of a Russian novel – in fact, this book owes a debt to Russian literature in many ways, including the Dostoyevsky title.

Selin is aimless and almost ambivalent about her future, and she signs up for classes almost at random. Her focus is on linguistics, although she quickly loses her faith in the power of language to truly communicate. In her introductory Russian language class, Selin becomes friends with Serbian student Svetlana, who seems to inherently understand the social conventions of university in ways that Selin cannot. She also meets Ivan, a math major from Hungary – she falls for his depth of character, but their entire relationship may be based on the misunderstandings of the English language.

In 1995, there is no social media, and email is brand new. Selin and Ivan begin to communicate through email almost by accident, and she obsesses over their thrilling correspondence – the kind of conversations that are filled with so much intense meaning when you’re a teenager, but in reality they are mostly nonsense. Ivan’s thoughts are new and mysterious to Selin, but in real life, she is mostly speechless in his presence – especially when he talks about his elusive girlfriend. Meanwhile, the students act out an unrequited love story in Russian class, which takes on new meaning for Selin.

Selin’s constant narration of seemingly random events are very evocative of the absurdity of Russian literature. Her naïve observations of the world around her are deadpan and dry, unintentionally hilarious. The description of every small detail of Selin’s daily life distracts from the forward motion of the plot, but I think that’s the point – her use of language subverts the traditional plot, and shows us how complicated communication can become. Selin’s inner world is so charming and clever, I never wanted it to end. Without the surprising amount of detail, the novel could have easily been much shorter than its 450-page count, but I could have kept reading much longer. However, I don’t think that will be the case for everyone – the writing style is divisive, and readers will either love or hate The Idiot.

At the end of the school year, Ivan arranges for Selin to teach English in several small Hungarian villages, while he stays in Budapest. Selin first travels to Paris with Svetlana, which makes life in the villages seem even more absurd. She continues to explore her experiences of first love, and she is filled with as much confusion as exhilaration when she meets with Ivan. Their relationship is unconventional, rejecting the usual young adult romance tropes in clever and unexpected ways.

Throughout her journey, Selin continues to explore the complications of communication, especially as language starts to seem so arbitrary to her. Ending up in Turkey, Selin begins to lose faith in the narrative of her own life. She learns, as we all eventually do, that there is no overarching plot to life – it isn’t a Russian novel, except for the fact that it is unexpected and absurd.

It’s hard to explain why I loved this novel so much, but Selin’s rich inner world just resonated with me. Batuman is certainly an author to watch, and I will likely be purchasing this, and any other novel, that she writes.

I received this book from Penguin Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Music of the Ghosts - Vaddey Ratner

Touchstone Books, April 11, 2017.

 

Five Stars

 

Music of the Ghosts is Ratner’s second novel – her first was the semi-autobiographical work, In the Shadow of the Banyan. This one is populated with fully fictional characters, but based once again in the horrific reality of the Khmer Rouge regime. While Banyan is a story of one family’s survival of the Cambodian genocide, Music of the Ghosts shows us how the survivors struggle to move forward in the aftermath of war.

 

Suteera was a young girl when she escaped from Cambodia with her aunt – they crossed the border into Vietnam with the help of a selfless soldier who likely died on his next rescue mission. Teera and her aunt Amara were the only survivors from their family – her father went missing first, and others died along the journey to the border. Amara and Teera forged a new life in Minnesota, but when Amara receives a diagnosis of rapidly advancing cancer twenty-five years later, she asks her niece to return her ashes to the family’s temple in Phnom Penh.

 

When Teera writes to the Wat Nagara temple to tell them of her aunt’s request, she receives a letter back from a man known as the Old Musician. He claims to have information about the end of her father’s life in one of Pol Pot’s prisons, as well as possession of several of Teera’s father’s traditional Cambodian instruments. The Old Musician carries a vast amount of guilt over his role in the genocide, and he has banished himself to the temple, where he plays ceremonial music to earn his keep. He is anxious to see Teera, yet he dreads her reaction to his story, which also includes his lifelong love for her mother.

 

Twenty-five years after her escape, Teera returns to Cambodia to find a nation in turmoil. Former enemies live side by side as they attempt to reconcile the horrific violence of the past with the desire to mend their country and move forward. Teera meets a young doctor, Narunn, who also lost his entire family during the war – mistrustful at first, Teera is eventually able to face Narunn with an open heart as they heal from the past and forge a new path forward. Ratner writes about the unbelievable loss and horrors of the war in lyrical prose, beautiful for its stark emotion. The future of Teera and Narunn is continually contrasted with the Old Musician’s flashbacks of his past – he and Teera’s parents, like many others, initially embraced the Khmer Rouge promise of independent democracy, only to watch in horror as the regime corrupted itself.

 

Compared with Ratner’s first novel, I found the adult perspective in this one to lend itself to a more complex, stronger story. With the analyses of Teera and the Old Musician, I felt like I learned much more history from this novel – from the French colonization of Cambodia, to the American bombings and the rise of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Lesser known (at least to me) than the history of Vietnam, Cambodia followed a similar trajectory into war.

 

At the end of the story, the victims of the Khmer Rouge still await the tribunal that will punish those responsible for crimes of war. The Cambodian people, with Teera and Narunn as their fictional representatives, continue to face the ghosts of the past in order to heal and rebuild. The characters sometimes became overly allegorical, as a vessel for Ratner’s message, but they were strong enough that they still felt completely real and necessary in telling this story.

 

I received this book from Touchstone Books in exchange for an honest review.

So Much Love - Rebecca Rosenblum

McClelland & Stewart, March 14, 2017.

 

Four Stars

 

When two people go missing within months of each other, both from a small town in western Canada, countless lives are affected. Both were taken in broad daylight – Donny from outside his high school, and Catherine from the parking lot of the restaurant she serves at – but there are no other obvious connections between the two victims. What they do have in common are the many people, from acquaintances to loved ones, who are affected by their absence, and these are the people that narrate this quiet, compelling novel.

 

Each chapter is told from a different point of view, including Catherine’s husband, her mother, and even her university professor, with whom she was studying a local poet, Julianna Ohlin. The poet was murdered years before, and her body found in a nearby field – although the crime was never solved conclusively, it was likely done by her abusive boyfriend. Catherine admired Julianna’s poems, which were about the mundane moments of everyday life – those moments that we don’t appreciate until they are gone. There are echoes of images between sections/characters – watching the same movies, visiting the same locations – that show the tenuous connections that link people together.

 

The various perspectives read like short stories, although they are woven together to describe the lives of Catherine, Donny and Julianna. And through Catherine’s eyes, we witness her dramatic escape after her devastating final days of captivity. She is able to return home physically, but mentally she is unable to cope with her new reality. This is a quiet, thoughtful novel despite the violent and sickening crimes it depicts – it is not really a thriller, but more of an exploration of how absence affects those who have been left behind.

 

In many ways, this novel defies genre – there are elements of mystery, but it is more like literary true crime, with a feeling of being ripped straight from the headlines. The potential of abduction and the thought that it could happen to any of us ignites fear in the reader. We can relate so easily to Catherine, especially as a woman – as her friend describes it, “he made her see that these things can happen, that nothing keeps a girl walking home alone safe and sound except good luck.” (Loc. 1996) The Canadian small town feel made it even more real for me, and I loved the many references unique to life in western Canada.

 

The subjective reactions of Catherine’s loved ones also felt very real – the novel showcases the many feelings one would work through in the face of such a loss, including the tedious waiting for something, anything to happen, to bring the victim home. And after that, the waiting for her to heal alongside the inability to help. Catherine is such a clearly fleshed-out character with a unique personality, and her suffering feels genuine, especially as glimmers of hope shine through.

 

Unlike the many, many missing girl thrillers that have been filling the shelves lately, So Much Love goes deeper. The author doesn’t use extreme violence or unbelievable twists to manipulate the reader’s emotions, which made me appreciate this book so much more. I also liked the discussion of the healing power of literature that runs through the novel – Julianna’s escape through poetry, Catherine’s tenuous connection to the outside world through short stories as she tries to re-enter her former life, and of course the many CanLit references that pop up throughout the story. One of the most important aspects of fiction is its ability to teach empathy to readers, and that idea is reinforced throughout this novel. This is much more than a thriller, it is literary fiction that truly makes you think.

 

I received this book from McClelland & Stewart and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In the Name of the Family - Sarah Dunant

Virago Books, March 2, 2017.

 

Four Stars

 

In the Name of the Family is Dunant’s follow up to her novel Blood and Beauty, published in 2013. Both books explore the Borgia family dynasty, headed by Rodrigo Borgia who became Pope Alexander VI – a corrupt womanizer who used papal funds and influence to advance the positions of his children in Rome. The prologue of this novel also introduces us to the character of Niccolo Machiavelli, who was at the time a Florentine diplomat at an uncertain period in history. The Medici family has fallen, and Savonarola has been publicly burned. In 1502, Machiavelli is attempting to work with Cesare Borgia and his mercenary army to end the madness that has taken over the Italian city-states.

 

The Borgia family is brutal and passionate, but they are also in decline – Pope Alexander is aging, and his powerful son Cesare is struggling with illness due to the pox. Daughter Lucrezia is sent to an arranged marriage in distant Ferrara, meant to strengthen political ties with another powerful family, the Estes. At age twenty-two, it will be Lucrezia’s third marriage, and she is just now starting to understand her own power – facing off against the Estes family, she is finally standing on her own, outside of her father’s shadow.

 

Back in Rome, Cesare has lost the fear and respect he had for his father – the Pope is aging rapidly and his power is weakening. Cesare begins to act on his own, although still in his father’s name. Most Italian city-states are frightened of Cesare and his renegade army – his moves against other members of the nobility are clever and unpredictable. He must travel undercover, but that doesn’t prevent him from making his way in disguise to Lucrezia’s bedside when she falls ill, leading to some of the rumors about their inappropriate relationship.

 

Cesare Borgia became a model for Machiavelli’s The Prince – a guidebook for ruling the people which includes the famous line, “It is better to be feared than loved.” Cesare and his family are great examples of the dark side of politics and power, although Lucrezia is the most real and engaging character here. Instead of disappearing into the shadows of womanhood, she uses her intelligence and sexuality to control her surroundings in dramatic ways.

 

Dunant does an impressive job of humanizing these historical figures, showing all the dark sides of love, grief and familial bonds. This novel is backed up by an incredible amount of research, but it never feels weighed down by facts. The dialogue is accessible and modern, with firsthand sources such as letters woven into the text. The story of the Borgias is so bizarre that it often seems stranger than fiction, and Dunant brings these intriguing characters brilliantly to life.

 

I received this book from Virago Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Women in the Castle - Jessica Shattuck

William Morrow, March 28, 2017.

Four Stars

The Women in the Castle follows three widows of the German resistance, as they work together to survive the frightening aftermath of World War II. The novel begins in 1938, on the night that will later be known as Kristallnacht. The wealthy, upper-class von Lingenfels family are hosting a glamorous party at their Bavarian castle, but as the violence of the night unfolds across the country, several of the guests discuss their plot to assassinate Hitler. Marianne von Lingenfels listens as the plot unfolds, headed by her husband Albrecht and her childhood best friend Connie. When Connie introduces her to his new bride, Benita, he tells Marianne that she can be “the commander of wives and children,” in charge of protecting the others once the men are gone.

Marianne is initially offended by Connie’s comment, but it comes to haunt her as the years pass. The novel jumps to 1945 – the war is technically over, but the damages to the German people are ongoing. As we know, the resistance assassination plot was unsuccessful – the men were caught and executed. Marianne and the other resistance widows were held captive, although Marianne was treated with more care and respect, as part of the German nobility. After the war, she is reinstalled in her ancestral castle, along with her children. Spurred on by Connie’s words, she focuses her energy on finding the other widows and bringing them to the castle – but the German bureaucracy is in shambles, and she can only find two of the women. The first is Connie’s wife Benita, a naïve, shallow woman that Marianne seems to have little respect for. The second is a woman named Ania, whom Marianne had never met but whose husband she views as a hero of the resistance. These three unlikely allies move together into the castle, where they raise their children and bond over limited resources and dangerous situations.

Marianne has always seen the world in black and white, good and evil. But as time passes, she realizes she no longer has the privilege to be self-righteous about her beliefs. The world has become more complex, and the futures of all three women are uncertain. While Benita attempts to move on and find love again, Marianne cannot let go of the unrequited feelings she held for Benita’s husband Connie, and it forces her to sabotage the possibility of love for her friend. Meanwhile, Ania wants to move on to some measure of happiness as well, but the very dark secrets of her past are holding her back, in a shocking way.

As a North American reader, this is an unusual perspective on WWII. There is space here to have empathy for the German people, even those who were complicit through lack of action. Marianne believed in the resistance cause, but Benita just believed what Connie told her to – and Ania’s past actions are beyond complicity. It’s too easy to see parallels between the early years of Nazi Germany and our current political situation, especially in Marianne’s description of events:

“For so long [they] had known Hitler was a lunatic, a leader whose lowbrow appeal to people’s most selfish, self-pitying emotions and ignorance was an embarrassment for their country… They had wrung their hands over his dangerous conflations, his fervor, and his lack of humanity… And all of Germany would never rise up. They were too steeped in Hitler’s rhetoric, too cowardly, too implicated in the horrors of his war to reject him.” (p. 74-75)

The novel ends in 1991, when the surviving women and children are reunited for a memorial event at the castle. All of the secrets have been revealed, and the healing has begun – especially for the younger generation. This is a heart-wrenching story, yet it is not overly emotional. The prose is quite matter-of-fact, while conveying a depth of feeling that goes farther than a lot of historical fiction, especially novels that are targeted towards women. I feel that this subject is a necessary one, in order to prevent history from repeating, as it seems to always do. As an overall picture of Germany after the war, this novel is vividly atmospheric, yet it is also an incredibly nuanced view of the human condition, specifically of these three women as they learn to survive – and more importantly, to forgive each other and themselves.

I received this book from William Morrow Publishing in exchange for an honest review.