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aj_x416 's review for:
The Innocents
by Michael Crummey
Crummey does a masterful job storytelling in this novel about a young brother and sister orphaned in a remote cove off Newfoundland's northern shore in the late (?) 1700s. They take up the hard work of their parents, mostly fishing for cod which they barter with harsh shipmaster each fall for a few food staples to see them through till the following spring when the ship will return. The most impressive feat of writing, even beyond the exemplary recreation of the era, including the language with its peculiar idioms and lilt, is the fact the story is essentially episodic. Beyond the question of whether Evered (eleven when the story begins) and his sister Ada (yes, a play on Adam & Eve), two years younger, will survive, there is no mystery to be chased down (the unknown grave near their home didn't suffice) or other outer conflict. So I found the gripping narrative tension to work well simply because of the tremendous writing, an evocative spell.
The minor quibbles I had were that I actually had to read a review of the book early on because it wasn't clear to me what era this story took place in. In that regard, it's worth noting that the story mostly proceeds by a close third-person POV, alternating between the brother and sister. Since they are both "innocents", entirely sheltered from the outside world by their isolation and youth, they don't name the date or their geographical location (they can't). I would have preferred a caption at the outset of the story along the lines of "17xx, Newfoundland's northern shore" rather than having to suss that out through my own research.
All in all, a remarkable work of historical fiction and the fact that it lost the Giller Prize to the novel Reproduction is scandalous. This book will be a legacy.
The minor quibbles I had were that I actually had to read a review of the book early on because it wasn't clear to me what era this story took place in. In that regard, it's worth noting that the story mostly proceeds by a close third-person POV, alternating between the brother and sister. Since they are both "innocents", entirely sheltered from the outside world by their isolation and youth, they don't name the date or their geographical location (they can't). I would have preferred a caption at the outset of the story along the lines of "17xx, Newfoundland's northern shore" rather than having to suss that out through my own research.
All in all, a remarkable work of historical fiction and the fact that it lost the Giller Prize to the novel Reproduction is scandalous. This book will be a legacy.