Book review of Shafted A Mystery by Sheila Peters (Creekstone Press: 2014)

Full mea-culpa: I am the world's worst blogger. I've been far busier with lighthouse work, paid book reviews, garden work, and working on several of my own writing projects with deadlines...and those are my official excuses for not cheerfully sending millions of blogs into the ether every few days. But forthwith, another book review which I do on Goodreads and then transfer to my blog. It was a great warm-up for getting back to my major writing project underway today...so, enjoy! Shafted A Mystery by Sheila Peters
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Shafted A Mystery is a departure in genre writing for author Sheila Peters, well-respected in Canadian literary circles for her published works in poetry, short fiction and most recently, The Taste of Ashes, a gritty and gripping novel set in Guatemala, Vancouver and Smithers, B.C.

The small and vibrant town of Smithers, B.C. makes another appearance in this book and is, in fact, a character of sorts as all well-written mystery settings are, which places this book in a new wave of Canadian mysteries from large and small publishers where the once-pejorative words "local" and "regional" are applied to tasty, specifically spiced and culturally authentic writing in the same way those words have been used in a laudatory way in the world of cuisine for several decades, and rightly so. The best-selling mysteries set in Three Pines, Quebec by Louise Penny or in Kootenay Landing, B.C. by Deryn Collier are two that quickly come to mind. Collier, like Peters, is particularly brilliant at deftly using local details of setting, cuisine, the slightly nosy neighbours who truly have your back, and the vicious local power struggles which can turn deadly in a way that is utterly authentic.

I grew up in a small rural community and have preferred to live in them ever since so my nose quickly detects those authors who ladle on the local detail but without the depth of relationships, the true intimacy of life in a close-knit community. Local "colour" when plopped onto a formulaic genre is still formula-driven fast-food writing with a bit of well-worn sauce, not nearly as satisfying as the slow food served by those who grow and know their own local ingredients. Mysteries are my brain candy, the genre I most love to read to relax and to sink into another world's sights and smells and tastes and voices, as experienced by the observant sleuth or any reasonable facsimile on his/her way to settling things so that justice prevails (or a satisfying facsimile of justice).

Another interesting aspect of this well-written book is the choice of April as the month in which all the action takes place. April in Smithers will resonate with many readers who experience four seasons of the year as, without a doubt, April is the cruelest month. It gets our hopes up for spring, surely just around the corner. Peters delivers April's uncontrollable run-off, collective mental teetering on the edge, freezing treachery and the first beautiful dry, bare patch in the yard with true panache. If I was an Aussie reader, I'd be just as fascinated, in the same way that I am when a writer from Down Under gives me prolonged drought and a couple of murders to ponder in such a way that I'm thirsty after just a few pages.

So, what we have in April in Smithers is an era when party lines on the rural telephone exchange still existed and the internet is barely a rumour.There are property development issues afoot so astute mystery readers know we need to follow the money, for starters. Into this mix, strides and stumbles the fatigued protagonist, Margo Jamieson, a part-time auxiliary cop and stage manager/janitor at the high school theatre auditorium, a young woman with a big heart and a maternal eye on a troubled student who is homeless, vulnerable and unpredictable. There is also a fabulously wealthy, thanks to a lottery win, eco-activist, a hometown girl who abandoned a promising career in the U.S. to come home to Smithers and there to fund a think tank with visiting international scientists to solve environmental problems. She also wants to create a local wilderness park, much to the displeasure of some residents who expected her to fork over wads of her cash for their assorted causes instead of this park business, where local logging and mining jobs might be lost.

The geological and political elements in this mystery are fascinating; both well-researched and highly credible as this conflict is currently happening all over North and South America. This brings us to another interesting character, a reclusive, handsome geologist or mining company fixer or scout, or all of the above...the stories vary according to the purveyor of the gossip but he's a hometown son as well and he, as the surviving member of his family, has a stake in the rubble left behind from their once-thriving mine in the proposed park zone. Another unsavoury character is an an old prospector, the kind who snoops around other people's claims and digs up dirt in all forms, also a former swimming champion and fading beauty with a massive mean streak, a charming and philosophical cafe owner, a beefy and brusque female RCMP officer dealing with a vindictive, misogynist supervisor (another situation ripped from much more recent headlines as women serving as RCMP stand up in the new millennium and speak publicly about the nasty unprofessional jerks they have had to work with for years in a culture which blatantly condones sexism), and an appealing local historian who works as a telecommunications technician. I could go on with the list but what I'm trying to say is that, as in the best theatre ensembles, there are no small roles, only small players, and every character created by Sheila Peters is immensely memorable, whether they are on the page for a few scenes or reappear as major players throughout the entire book.

Who is using a dry cleaning business to send poison pen notes to Smithereens from all walks of life (or at least those who can afford to get their clothes dry-cleaned?)Who amongst this cast of characters would stoop to using a pistol on an old man and a homemade bomb to cover up their mistakes, nearly killing two innocent people in the ensuing melee? What is connected to whom and why? It's a very satisfying read which kept me guessing right to the "reveal". Now what I would like is a series of mysteries set in Smithers by Sheila Peters, one set in each month of the year. There is the grim fact of the Highway of Tears to investigate, for starters. And I would like at least one book to include the wonderful bookstore in Smithers and the great music festival too! Shafted A Mystery is recommended reading any month of the year.

View all my reviews

What It Takes To Be Human by Marilyn Bowering

What It Takes to Be Human by Marilyn Bowering
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What It Takes to Be Human
I could not put the book down until 2:30 a.m...a wonderfully paced and beautifully written story about a young man who is committed to an insane asylum by his (obvious to me) insane parents. There he has to hang on to his sanity while being experimented on with truth serum (sodium pentothal) or insulin injections, followed by relentless and devious interrogations. There is, as well as the criminally insane, a population of conscientious objectors and others whose chief failing seems to be hailing from German or Japanese, Chinese or Russian ethnic backgrounds. Communists and even a Mac-Pap veteran of the Spanish Civil War are memorably included as well as gay men, including former soldiers who are now being punished and "treated". The research is skillfully integrated and may serve as an eye-opener for some readers as to who exactly decides who the criminally insane "element" is and who has the power to put people away without a formal, legal link to the outside world. There is, as we fear, one particularly abusive staff member because there almost always is at least one sadistic bully in the workplace, and/or, in institutions like prisons and asylums with few objective eyes checking in to monitor and punish such behaviours.

Here we have a possibly unreliable narrator whose main ally on the "outside" is a beautiful dipsomaniac who clearly identifies with Sandy Grey as a man the same age as her own son, missing in action in Europe. She gives him a how-to writing guide, paper and pencils and Sandy begins his study of another inmate from an earlier time whose files he has discovered, those of an immigrant Scotsman wrongly accused of murder and summarily executed after a hasty and controversial trial. This case has very clear parallels to his own situation, as he is incarcerated with the threat of lobotomy, cold water hoses, experimental electrocution, castration and other horrors if he doesn't present his own sanity well enough to the attending doctors. And of course, he does go spectacularly off the rails from time to time. Who wouldn't?

It was truly gripping to follow the ravelling and unravelling of young Sandy's mind as he grappled with his own synthesis of reality vs the presentation of reality he had, on good advice from other inmates, to conjure up for the doctors and the Board. If the ending seems a little too neatly tied up with a bow, it's also an intense relief to this reader to know several of the outcomes did come to pass and justice was achieved at last! I'd recommend this for military history buffs, medical personnel and other writers who want to enjoy an interesting novel structure, deeply imagined characters, great Canadian and international historical research and the pleasure of a terrific story, very well-told.

View all my reviews

Review of Saara's Passage by Karen Autio

Saara's Passage by Karen Autio
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Saara's Passage by Karen Autio, a contemporary Canadian writer, is the second in a well-written, impeccably researched trilogy which features young teenager, Saara Maki, a recent immigrant with her family from Finland to Canada in the early years of the last century. Autio's characters are vivid 3-D creations, each one, adult or child, deeply imagined and with distinct voices. The use of dialogue is true to the era, incorporating Finnish words, and is especially good, at least to my ear, but I grew up with two immigrant parents in a rural community of immigrants so I think I am attuned to voices in this way and appreciate pitch-perfect notes when I hear them, as in this book. Another strength is the weaving of weighty issues like the sinking of the Empress of Ireland (a central fact of the first book in the trilogy), Saara's experience of what we now know as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after surviving the sinking, the hardships faced by immigrant men and the effect on their families when they tried to form unions to resolve dangerous and exploitative workplace issues,the devastation caused by tuberculosis in Canada and the long and imperfect methods of treatment, the struggle for immigrant children to adapt to schools with English as a second language... all these issues are central and substantial but are woven skillfully into the narrative itself.

This is a book which should be on school library shelves and is also that rare thing, a book which readers aged ten to one hundred and ten can enjoy, especially if they love "olden times", Canadian history or have northern European roots. But there will be many new immigrants who will read this and recognize themselves in this story of a sturdy young girl who puts her family before a starring role in a school play and who tries to do the right thing, hard though that may be. Tuberculosis is far from being eradicated in the world in 2013. Being an immigrant is tough no matter where you end up. Dealing with mean girls at school and having crushes on boys, well, these are timeless or universal themes, are they not?! I highly recommend it.

View all my reviews

Review of Mohsin Hamid's novel, How To Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia (Riverhead Books/Penguin: 2013)

How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you haven't read Mohsin Hamid yet, you are in for a master class in structure, from sentence structure to building characters complete with blocks and open doors to an assured yet risky narrative point of view to the very structure of this slyly misnamed novel itself. Hamid astonishes with every new book. I loved The Reluctant Fundamentalist as well but in this novel, the born storyteller provides the gritty details of an impoverished young man's journey as the "clever boy" of a poor man's village family to a city gang member of sorts and then, to a self-made man peddling that most precious commodity, water, to become a very wealthy man at last. Yet he does this not by plodding along from point A to point B but by including the reader, the two main protagonists, the urban sprawl of the city - another character, itself - sweeping from point of view to point of view with great panache and great tenderness for the struggles of humanity.

Hamid weaves the reader (picture yourself on the back of an underpowered, speeding motorcycle somewhere in Asia)through the mean streets of an unnamed city and structures this novel along the lines of a business book, a bestselling one eagerly read by young Asian men, most certainly. His chapter titles reflect the advice pertaining to his main character and to us all: Move to the City (I reflected on this as I've had the same advice for becoming more successful as a writer, i.e., move to Toronto, hang out with the literati, stalk an agent like clammy fiends seem to do, etc. ad nauseum & no thanks, Get An Education (did that but didn't like the straight-jacket jobs available to the likes of me...)Don't Fall in Love (woops, did that, tossing jobs aside, fireworks, etc. too), Avoid Idealists (oh heck, clearly I wasn't destined for wealth as nearly all my best friends are fervent idealists of one stripe or another) Learn From a Master phew, did that one well at least, learning from wonderful masters of writing at a real writing school run by working contemporary writers, Work For Yourself yes! take the risk, go to the wall for another kind of education which is still about being of service, risk the slings & arrows of stupid, mean people and the accolades of kind, wise people and get out alive Be Prepared to Use Violence okay, this option doesn't apply as range wars and bookselling vendettas aren't in the same league as Hamid's protagonist Befriend a Bureaucrat hold your nose, only if you must and there are many good souls among them, ground into a quivering pulp by the demands of John Q. Public and his charming wife, Susie Patronize the Artists of War possibly one of the best chapters in a superlative book of chapters, required reading Dance With Debt been there, done that, didn't like it but some have a higher tolerance of risk than others Focus on the Fundamentals brilliant advice, applicable to those who have lost their wealth or must live on a fixed budget, kind of a Get Smart At Least or At Long Last chapter before Have An Exit Strategy which is where we all must get to in as dignified a manner as we can muster.Hamid's advice can only be described as a compassionate cri de coeur, simply beautiful.

Oh, and it's also a wonderful love story, an eloquent case study of the pros and cons of family nepotism as a society safety net and a brilliant expose of the inner workings of military/industrial/governmental corruption in Asia. Definitely one of my Top 10 Novel recommendations for 2013.

View all my reviews

Review of Honey Cake by Joan Betty Stuchner

Honey Cake by Joan Betty Stuchner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



View all my reviews Even though this 88 page chapter book was meant for 8-11 year olds, I read it with great interest since I knew next to nothing about WW2 in Denmark and because this book has won literary prizes in Canada like the Red Cedar Award, chosen by children themselves. It takes a profoundly subtle and skilled writer to achieve a balance between (extra-Grimm) content, (WW2 Europe)context, vocabulary and interest level appropriate for this age group. Stuchner delineates the ever-present fear of adults who try their utmost to maintain cheerful normality so that their children will enjoy some semblance of carefree childhood and yet not jeopardize their own lives. I empathized with the longing of a nine year old boy for a toy train set for his tenth birthday and cheer on the clandestine bravery of a sister barely out of her teens active as a member of the Danish Resistance movement. I was very moved by the dignified bravery of King Christian X in the face of the Nazi invaders and the unusual solidarity of Christians and Jews in Denmark...and the helping hand of Sweden, who accepted many Jewish refugees, especially because my Dutch mother lived through WW2 as a teenager and has horrific stories of neighbours betraying neighbours to the Nazis. The lives of two caged budgies are deftly woven into the novella as a telling metaphor and the droll black and white drawings by award-winning illustrator Cynthia Nugent enhance the 'not so childish' tone and content of the book. Highly recommended. One of those books that children, teens (like my 18 year old niece who read it at one sitting and enjoyed it) and adults can all read and relate to.

One Grateful Reader's Response to Louise Erdrich's novels

The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Louise Erdrich is a writer I am grateful for and I will simply list the ways she enriches my reading and writing life: great emotional intelligence, big sweeping symphonic American history, native American tragedy and comedy in pitch perfect notes, and her women are flawed and wonderful and wicked and unforgettable, her men are sweet and wounded and miserable and fabulous, children are tough and resilient and damaged and lovable, every animal has a presence and trots across the pages with a purpose, small towns are presented as they absolutely are with everyone knowing or inventing everyone else's life stories, the vagaries of the weather are present every day, as they are in real life but not in airless urban novels. In her books, like this masterpiece, we taste and smell and feel and worry and cheer for her food and her people and all of the rich feast she sets out for us with every book.
Because she is a poet, her language is varied and interesting and my inner ear tracks the flow of every character's "voice print" without losing track even once of who is speaking or dreaming.
As a writer, I alternate between wanting to just read wonderful books to escape the hard work of writing or to be inspired by fine minds like this author's, to get busy on my own manuscript underway. Happily, I can manage both.

View all my reviews

Review of House Calls By Dogsled: Six Years in An Arctic Medical Outpost by Keith Billington

House Calls by Dogsled: Six Years in an Arctic Medical Outpost By Keith Billington

Highly recommended reading for anyone with experience in front line medical services, anyone who has volunteered or worked overseas in challenging conditions or those who yearn for Arctic adventures...and may be limited to the warmth and stability of their armchairs, not quite up to running behind a frisky dog team on snowshoes.<>

The Billingtons, both trained nurses in Britain, with midwifery certification for Muriel and additional dental, X-ray and other must-have training taken once in Canada, signed up for a two year stint in Fort McPherson on the Mackenzie Delta. They arrived in mid-September, 1964, and with the boundless optimism and energy of those barely in their twenties, they began their familiarization with the Nursing Outpost Station and soon, the harsh winter conditions.<>

What shines through this book is their rational, non-judgmental intelligence, cheerful natures, willingness to learn all kinds of skills and social customs from the Gwich'in people, and the sheer joy in living a life they could only imagine as they read adventure stories as children. This is not a world-weary travelogue as delivered, with polished literary panache, by the likes of Paul Theroux or Bruce Chatwin. This is the stuff of CUSO volunteers and Peace Corps who sign up for their two year stints to work and live in rustic conditions, adapting to new customs and learning more than a little of a new language. They are not afraid to show their own tears when a baby dies and to marvel at the dignity of the Gwich'in parents who shake their hands- with one firm, characteristic shake- and who thank them for all they did.<>

We are treated to the last decade of a traditional way of life, before satellite TV and snowmobiles altered the hardy northerners' work and leisure. The accounts of getting lost with a dog team en route to a smaller village in -55 F and of arriving at a bush camp with a baby in diapers are storytelling classics. The Billingtons, who were obviously much-loved and respected, stayed for six years and began their own family with two children while in the Mackenzie Delta.<>

Maybe it's because I had an aunt who was a Red Cross Outpost Hospital nurse in the 30's and 40's in Kyuquot and Cecil Lake, B.C. that makes this book resonate for me or because I've always wanted to kayak down the Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean...but in any case, this is a thoroughly enjoyable, life-affirming, makes-me-proud-to-be- Canadian sort of book!<>