Still waters run deep

     Dr. Kate Morrison, assistant professor, invertebrate ecology (University of Toronto), grew up in the Canadian wilderness with her two elder brothers and young sister. A visit home to celebrate her nephew's 18th. birthday requires her to confront her present in order to make sense of her past.

     Mary Lawson's novel Crow Lake is the story of Kate's brothers and their response to tragedy and to choice. Two incidents shape the lives of the family: one accidental, the other deliberate - an impulse determining a fate. But it is Kate's interpretation of the consequences of the choice that has caused her detachment from her family, and when she realises "I have become familiar with books and ideas.... and somehow, in the process of acquiring all that knowledge, I have managed to learn nothing at all", it takes an outsider with a clearer view to put matters right.

     I am indebted to Peg for sending me this excellent book, all the way from Canada. Its quiet, unassuming style and easy pace draw the eye away from the real skill and integrity with which it's written. Mary Lawson is particularly good on the interplay of sibling relationships, the delightfully 'true' toddler, Bo, and the contrast between the young Kate's family life and her later academic one. Throughout the book she maintains a sense of balance and proportion, and her unforced, natural voice and perceptive treatment of the story make this a compelling novel.

Comments

[Peg]

I enjoy the comments on a book that I love and will read again. I do not own a university degree, and that is something I always had regretted, but his book put it all in a different light for me. My 6'1" dtr. always gives me a hard time when I mention this lack of a degree and when I read 'Crow Lake', I think she realized that I finally 'got it'.
Thanks, Cornflower. So pleased you liked the book!

[Les in NE]

I've read this one twice (and her more recent one once). I thought Crow Lake was marvelous. Bo was a great character. The humor centered around her behavior added a nice bit of levity to the sad beginning of the story, don't you think?

I'll be interested to read your remarks on Lawson's second novel if and when you give it a read.