Friday 21 November 2014

Road Ends by Mary Lawson

This lovely and simple novel languished on my shelf for almost a year before I picked it up and read it in one sitting.  The setting is northern Ontario during blizzard season and England in the late 1960's and is told from three points of view in alternating chapters, a device I am not overly fond of, but which worked beautifully here.  There is Edward, the patriarch, who is working through the legacy of a violent and harsh childhood while his wife completely absorbs herself in baby after baby, letting the household work fall into the hands of her only daughter Megan.  Megan is brilliantly brought to life by the author.  She exiles herself to London to find her independence, as if the only way to escape the endless drudgery of raising her brothers is to leave Ontario altogether.  And then there is her brother, kind and lost Tom, suffering after the suicide of his best friend.  Tom, although isolated by his grief is the one to notice things are awry in his family, but is at a loss to intervene in any effective way.  Gradually all three characters come to an understanding of their place in the world and how to give their lives some kind of purpose.  I highly recommend this novel.

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