Book Reviews
The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud
Published by Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver/Toronto in 2009
Winner of the 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize, Johanna Skibsrud’s novel tells the story of Napoleon Haskell, a Vietnam veteran now aging, who keeps his traumatic experiences buried underneath the very ordinary day-to-day lifestyle he maintains. I enjoyed the way that the narrator was able to bring her father to life through stories of the family unit with her mother and her sister Helen. He showed his love of the narrator’s mother by building a sail boat for her although he himself didn’t particularly like the water. Even after the breakup of the family, the two children continued to visit with their father every summer in an old house in Casablanca owned by his friend, Henry. The house has a mystery as well since it’s built on top of an earlier town that was buried. The similarities with Napoleon are hard to ignore.
Through her lyrical prose, the narrator draws the reader into her emotional path from a childhood in a single parent family pulled between two parents, to acknowledging her ongoing love and loyalty towards her father. Since her own relationship broke down recently, she has reunited with her father during his last few years of life.
The book reminded me that we need to cherish the generation of older souls who either through their natural personality or due to their upbringing never learned how to express deep emotions openly. They have treasures in memories buried beneath the surface which can be gently unearthed by a loved one who has the patience to listen.
Readers who are attracted by nostalgia will enjoy The Sentimentalists since the writer has provided a glimpse into small town living along the border between Canada and the United States with detailed descriptions of the characters that lived there during her father’s time.
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
published by Pocket Books, New York, January 2009
I read this book with some trepidation since several of my friends in the over sixty age group warned me that they had avoided it because of their fears about Alzheimer’s disease. However, once I started to read it I was hooked by the courage with which Alice faced her destiny. A Harvard professor, at age fifty she began to experience the strange symptoms of forgetfulness and disorientation that lead to her diagnosis. Alice shares with us her initial fears and the techniques and tools she uses with the support of her family to maintain as normal a life as possible. She is even able to introduce some humour about her situation such as the time she searched the entire house in vain for her Blackberry that contained all her day to day activities. In frustration, she finally gives up. Weeks later she finds it in the freezer when taking out a package of frozen food for dinner. The shift in her relationships with her husband and three adult children as the disease progresses clearly shows how different people cope differently with the tragedy. The author’s attention to details about coping day to day and the emotional impact for Alice of losing abilities but not herself make this a book that I strongly recommend.
The Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger
published by McArthur & Company in 2009, Winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award
The major strength of this novel is the extensive research by the author of the settings in Cairo and Luxor in the 1800s. Kate has chosen to write this story in the first person voice of the maidservant Sally Naldrett through whom we are provided insight into the life of her mistress Lady Duff Gordon. Lucy who has enjoyed life with her husband Sir Alick and three children in London society where she eagerly joined in the conversations of local politics and economics is exiled to Egypt as a possible cure for her tuberculosis. The natural curiously of the two women leads them to embrace their time in a new and exotic country exploring the monuments and temples of Abydos and Edfu and the statues of Rameses II. An Egyptian house servant, Omar Abu Halaweh joins them on the journey down the Nile teaching them Arabic and sharing stories about the local culture. For some time, the three of them enjoy meals and conversation daily, however, once they are settled in The French House in Luxor, a secret romance between Sally and Omar creates a distance between the two women. When the romance results in the birth of a son, Lady Duff Gordon discovers the real nature of their relationship and bans Sally from her service. Omar fills in both roles with his Lady while Sally is left to care for their new baby confined to her room. Marriage to Omar brings happiness for Sally but does nothing to resolve the rift created between the two women by her Lady and she is eventually forced to leave the house. Refusing to leave Egypt as demanded by Lucy, Sally is forced to fend for herself in Cairo and places their son in the household of his father and his first wife. Through perseverance and with help from Omar, Sally is able to enjoy her personal freedom and to make a life for herself and her son. When her Lady dies, Sally looks on at the funeral from a distance and realizes that the break with Lady Duff Gordon was inevitable from the time she found love and happiness while Lucy was losing her family and facing death alone. I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys history and an unusual love story.
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