Canada Reads- Marina Endicott

As soon as the Canada Reads picks were announced on CBC I ran to the TPL website and put all of them on hold. They have started streaming in (at an alarming rate actually), so I have started reading. The first to arrive was Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott.

The book tells the story of a middle aged, single, Christian woman (Clara) whose life is turned upside down when she gets into a car accident. The vehicle she hits contains a family much less well off than her. The family had been living in the car- mom, dad, three kids and grandma. When the mother is taken to the hospital following the accident, cancer is found. Advanced cancer. She is confined to the hospital, the family is homeless and motherless.

Clara takes them in, the whole lot of them and she takes care of the mother in the hospital. Her love life even develops, if rather awkwardly, with her priest.

Clara's late life introduction to motherhood is amusingly told. The story is warm and heartfelt. The characters are likeable and well developed. My only problem with the book was the pacing. The book begins with a series of fast paced events that tumble through the first hundred or so pages as Clara settles into her new role. But the writing during these pages is slow and measured. The story ran ahead of the writing. I found this frustrating, I felt like the novel wasn't moving at the pace I wanted. But, as the story settles down, the writing catches up. By the end I had completely changed my mind- I liked the book, I enjoyed reading it.

I am not quite ready to say whether it should win Canada Reads, but I am not discounting it either.

Next up: Ann-Marie MacDonald- Fall on your Knees

- Katy

A Student of the Weather

I might as well admit this right off the top- I didn't like this novel. Not that Elizabeth Hay isn't a good writer, she has crafted some nice pieces of prose, written some well-rounded, relatable characters; it just wasn't my cup of tea.

I like to meander my way through novels, discover connections on my own, feel proud of myself for getting a reference to another book or another point in this story. She makes it too easy, points out all those connections. For example, in one scene Norma Joyce, the novels heroine, discovers some lost art of her mother's and she affixes it to her wall, with a growing collection of things. This addition leads to the observation "it occurred to her that, again, she was reconstructing her childhood corner." I felt like the author was tapping me on the shoulder saying "hey, hey, don't you get it, she is reverting to her childhood home." But I had got it, I had already made the connection. And as often as I felt her doing this, spoiling my fun, I felt as though she was writing for the lowest common denominator.

The story itself is a good idea- a small family (2 daughters and a father) find their way from growing up in small town Saskatchewan to living in Ottawa, venturing to New York, through lovers, children, friends, jobs, etc. Naturally, one daughter is more favoured, the older, prettier, more responsible Lucinda. Norma Joyce, the younger, wilder sister, falls in love with Maurice who visits Saskatchewan from Ottawa. The trouble is, Maurice is in love with Lucinda (and Lucinda with Maurice). As the story unfolds, things fall apart between Maurice and Lucinda, largely because of some undelivered letters by a jealous Norma Joyce. The family moves from Saskatchewan to Ottawa and Norma Joyce continues her obsession. She actually continues this obsession throughout the novel. A plot point I got a bit weary of. She never seems to learn her lesson. Her and Maurice do have an affair, she has his child, but is still rejected by him time and time again. But she persists.

Truthfully, I was more intrigued by the character of Lucinda. After losing her love to her younger sister, she moves on (sort of), develops a business, remains responsible for her father. Her story is tragic and compelling. I could sympathize with her, whereas my sympathy with Norma Joyce waned fairly quickly.

So, all in all, unfortunately my first disappointing read. Not a bad novel, just not my thing.

I have also read Dracula, which I was trying to think of ways to make count as a Canadian novel. No such luck, although I did hear that one of his (great?) grandsons IS Canadian and has written some sort of sequel to Dracula- might be a bit of a stretch though.