Posts from ‘March, 2008’

He no longer thought as a soldier because he had been a soldier. He had seen too much. And now he had to choose again. Which of these men would he take? To which of them would he grant an alternative future? What that future was, he couldn’t say. -From Resistance, page 24-

What if the D-Day landings had failed? What if London had fallen and Britain been occupied by Nazi forces? What if instead of an Allied victory, World War II had gone another way?  These are the questions which writer Owen Sheers asks and answers in his debut novel Resistance. The novel unfolds in 1944 in a tiny Welsh valley when four women awake to find their husbands gone – no warning, no explanation except for a tattered manual which implies the men have left to become part of an organized underground resistance against the impending Nazi occupation. Maggie (an older woman with strength of heart and body), Mary (struggling to raise her teenage daughter after her son has been killed in the war), Menna (a young mother with two toddlers), and Sarah (with dreams of a future in the rolling Welsh hills) come together to help and support each other on their farms. Determined to survive until their men return, they are shocked to discover a Nazi patrol in the valley. When winter arrives earlier than expected, the fragile balance between these two groups is shaken and changed.

Resistance is a fully imagined, beautifully constructed novel about grief and survival during wartime. Sheers has won  the Eric Gregory Award and the Vogue Young Writer’s Award for his first poetry collection, and the lyrical language in Resistance reminds the reader of  those literary roots. As the seasons progress, bringing with them changes between the women and the Nazi soldiers, the reader is treated to graceful descriptions of the Welsh countryside with all its colors, smells, and sights. The brutality of the environment is mixed with its beauty, creating a backdrop which is perfect for the plot. Sheers builds tension between the characters gradually, revealing their motivations with the fine touch of an artist. Albrecht Wolfram, the German Captain, defies the stereotype of the Nazi soldier. Sheers shows his humanity lost in his role as soldier, and in doing so allows for sympathy and understanding. Likewise, in revealing the women’s strengths, Sheers also exposes their fears and weaknesses which creates characters of depth who are fully realized.

The story does not tie up all the ends; it is not predictable. In leaving the ending open, Sheers allows the reader to reach her own conclusions. Although some will not appreciate the subtleness of this, I found it to be the appropriate choice for the novel.

Sheers is a young writer, and he shows great promise with this debut novel. I look forward to reading more from him in the future.

Resistance is highly recommended.

In front of me is the Pacific, which sends up sunset after sunset, for nothing; at my back are the improbable mountains, and beyond them an enormous barricade of land. Toronto lies behind it, at a great distance, burning in thought like Gomorrah. At which I dare not look. – From Cat’s Eye, page 418-

Elaine Risley, a painter, flees west to Vancouver from Toronto to escape her failed marriage and the deeply buried memories of childhood. Now facing middle age and the relentless passage of time, she returns to the city of her childhood for a retrospective of her art … and discovers her past.

Margaret Atwood has constructed a deeply moving novel which spans more than forty years and explores the pain of growing up, betrayal, family connectivity, and ultimately the human ability to forgive and move forward in an uncertain world.

Cat’s Eye alternates between Elaine’s present and her past, juxtaposing her childhood growing up in the 40′s and 50′s with who she has become in a changed society.  The childhood images are the strongest of the novel, painful in their reality, yet often funny as well. Elaine and her brother Steven grow up as nomads of a sort – traveling eastern Canada with their father, an entomologist and professor, and their mother who does not fit with the convention of the 40′s housewife. Elaine is more comfortable in the world of boys which include her brother and his friends, and becomes somewhat of a tomboy – ignorant of the politics of girl friendships. Atwood’s description of boys is spot on and humorous.

Elaine’s childhood friendship with three girls – Carol, Grace and Cordelia – is painful; stunning in detail and understanding of what it means to grow up awkward and wanting to fit in. As Elaine moves uncomfortably through high school and college, then through the feminist years of the 60s and into adulthood, the reader begins to understand the present day Elaine – her fears, her joys, her relationship with her parents and the men in her life. And finally, the baggage in the guise of Cordelia, who she has carried through the years and must now come to terms with.

As with all Atwood novels, Cat’s Eye is a beautifully written story full of symbolism and rich language. I found myself immersed in Elaine’s life – hurting when she hurt, despairing, wishing for resolution and understanding. The book has a melancholy feel throughout most of its nearly 500 pages, and yet by the time I had finished it I felt, like Elaine, there was light in the world…and closure.

This is a book to relish, to read slowly and spend time thinking about the images. It is a novel first and foremost about women’s friendships, with all the barbs and uneasiness, as well as the longing and desire to form them. It is a book about the connections we make, about past wrongs and how to right them or, when that fails, to release them. It is about being human in an often brutal world.

Highly recommended.