Evening Snow Will Bring Such Peace by David Adams Richards

Ivan Basterache and his wife pregnant wife Cindi have a heated argument over money – bills are torn up, chairs are smashed, food is thrown. Cindi gets so upset she takes a seizure, falls and gives herself a black eye. The fight is bad, for sure, but neither are prepared for what happens next.

Cindi’s black eye wins her the sympathy of the community, old ‘friends’ take her in, encourage her to leave Ivan, who has always been a troublemaker. Ivan is ostracized as the rumours swirl that he beat her, hit her in the stomach, caused her to lose the baby.

Richards has recreated a slice of rural Maritime life, not the kitschy and quaint lifestyle we like to portray, but one of old traditions, hard times, cliques and long entrenched prejudices.

“Money had nothing to do with it, nor did age. But still, the two groups could be defined. Education might be the key – but that was not true either, although people who wished to make simplistic judgements would use the criteria of money, age, and education to accredit the difference.”

With the community, his former friends and even (most especially) his father against him, Ivan doesn’t have a hope in hell. Yet as the story progresses, he quickly becomes the most sympathetic character. Far from perfect, and with a temper he needs to control, but he and the old doctor seem to be the only ones with Cindi’s best interests at heart.

“There are lots of was people hide bigotry from themselves,” the doctor mumbled. “Today’s way is progressive concern.”

Cindi is perhaps the most difficult character to accept. It takes her weeks to speak up in her husband’s defence, and even then it is a weak effort. She is described as ‘slow,’ having repeated multiple grades through high school, and only graduating so the system could be rid of her. She is an epileptic, and prone to depression. Not taking her medication, drinking to excess and desperate to belong somewhere, she is easily led by the stronger, wilful Ruby.

“Cindi’s life that summer was like a movie, where all her friends were tantalized by and hoping secretly for more stories to come out of this affair, while telling each other they were not, and hoping it would end.”

Evening Snow Will Bring Such Peace is one of those rare stories where no character is entirely blameless, yet all are difficult to dismiss outright. Even Anthony, who you want to hate for his selfish stupidity, has devoted his life to his daughters and has a back-story that wins at least a little sympathy.

Having read a long series of disappointing books so far in 2012, I was thrilled to find a novel with such depth, a story that truly touched me. This is the first of Richards’ books I have read. It will not be the last.

Paperback: 240 pages

Publisher: Emblem Editions (Sep 11 2000)

ISBN-10: 0771075146

ISBN-13: 978-0771075148

Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel

Ayla, a five-year old Cro-Magnon girl is the sole survivor of an earthquake that  destroys her family’s camp – leaving her homeless, orphaned, and nearing starvation. Only discovery by a band of Neanderthal nomads who call themselves “the Clan” saves her life, when at the urging of Iza, their medicine woman, they adopt her as one of their own. But of course Ayla is not like the Clan, and the differences, both physical and cognitive, will have devastating consequences.

Having heard of the Clan of the Cave Bear series from many friends over the years, I always intended to read the books but only got around to it in the last year, having heard a sixth book was being published. I love historical fiction – well researched, meticulous historical fiction – and in that regard Clan of the Cave Bear did not disappoint. While more recent archaeological evidence suggests the portrayal of the Clan may not be entirely accurate (they may in fact have been able to speak, for example) this was discovered after the original publication in 1980.

While I greatly enjoyed reading it and have gone on to read books 2 and 3, with plans to finish the series, I also did not love it as so many do. Perhaps, as so often happens, it was ruined a bit by years and years of people telling me it was the best book ever. That’s hard to live up to.

I found the violence and mating descriptions overly repetitive, to the point that they were almost embarrassing to read.They just didn’t seem to fit, as if forced into the narrative somewhat. It’s hard to explain; any readers out there agree with me? I also have very little time for any theory of genetic memory, so the idea of the Clan having a shared, prehistoric memory turned me off a little. I can stretch my imagination quite far if you can convince me even a little bit that something is possible. If I believe it is impossible, you are out of luck.

Still, as someone who loves history, and was recently fascinated by the chance to visit prehistoric hominid sites in Africa, I was thrilled to find a novel that focused on pre-homo-sapien humans, and treated them as people, not animals, not merely half-humans.

If you love a historical saga as much as I do, you really should check this out. And if you are a biology grad who is sticky about genetics, just glaze over the shared memory bit, and remember that it is fiction, after all.

Mass Market Paperback: 544 pages
Publisher: Bantam; Reprint edition (Nov 1 1984)
ISBN-10: 0553250426
ISBN-13: 978-0553250428

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

 “Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians. They met upon the third Wednesday of every month and read each other long, dull papers upon the history of English magic.”

It is the early 19^th Century in England, and sadly for a country one renowned for its magicians, magic has all but disappeared. Modern magicians may read and write about magic but no one actually practices it anymore, and worse, no one knows why or how this happened. But a change is coming.

“Two magicians shall appear in England…
The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me;
The first shall be governed by thieves and murderers; the second shall conspire at his own destruction;
The first shall bury his heart in a dark wood beneath the snow, yet still feel its ache;
The second shall see his dearest possession in his enemy’s hand…”

Enter Mr. Norrell: Stodgy, peculiar and paranoid, and determined to singlehandedly restore magic to England. He has been collecting rare books of magic for years, and believes he has reached the point in his studies that he is ready to make his mark. In hist first public feat, Mr. Norrell raises a young woman from the dead and soon finds himself recruited by cabinet to assist in fighting and winning the Napoleonic wars.

“It has been remarked (by a lady infinitely cleverer than the present author) how kindly disposed the world in general feels to young people who either die or marry. Imagine then the interest that surrounded Miss Wintertowne! No young lady ever had such advantages before: for she died upon the Tuesday, was raised to life in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and was married upon the Thursday; which some people thought too much excitement for one week.”

But the arrogant Mr. Norrell is not prepared for what happens next. He is not the only magician in England. Enter Mr. Strange. A rich young gentleman in search of a hobby, Jonathan Strange decides to take up magic – and he has far more natural talent for it than the learned Mr. Norrell could ever hope for. Thus begins a competition that will change English magic forever.

“Can a magician kill a man by magic?” Lord Wellington asked Strange.
Strange frowned. He seemed to dislike the question. “I suppose a magician might,” he admitted, “but a gentleman never could.”

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is one of many magical novels to hit the shelves in the past decade, but in my opinion, it is among the best. At more than 800 pages, it is not for the faint of heart, but if fantasy is your thing, those 800 pages will fly by in a blur of spells, resurrections and faerie visits. Clarke’s humour is infectious, her characters are witty and amusing. This is one magical tome that is definitely worth the investment of your time.

Hardcover: 800 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (September 8, 2004)
ISBN-10: 1582344167
ISBN-13: 978-1582344164