Sanctuary Line - Jane Urquhart
First published by McClelland & Stewart: Canada, 2010.
This is a very well-written and melancholic book which at times reminded me of The Sea, a Booker-Prize-winning novel by John Banville that I read five years ago! Both are narrated by an older protagonist looking back upon their life as a child, both cover love and loss (with the loss happening in fairly dramatic fashion), both jump around to different time periods, both have a small cast of characters based in a small area, both have the adult in question having returned to the house where the childhood events have taken place, and both have occasional moments that cross the line into uncomfortable reading.
In this book Liz Crane recalls her summers visiting the farm of her uncle and aunt on the northern shores of Lake Erie. She and her cousins are made to play with Teo, the son of one of the Mexican seasonal workers, and over time Liz and Teo begin to form a connection. Meanwhile, Liz's uncle Stanley is forever undertaking spur-of-the-moment projects - many of which do not work out for the best.
Liz, as an adult, is also reflecting on the death of her cousin - Stanley's daughter - Mandy Butler, who has died serving in Afghanistan, and the secretive love-affair that Mandy was involved in while serving there in the military.
The plot is slow-moving, but Urquhart writes beautifully and paints the mood of loss long before the plot actually reaches those tragic moments we know are coming.
It's not a book I'm likely to read again - moments are a little explicit for my taste - but overall a well-written and moody book.
Completed 12 April 2022.
(Alphabet Soup Books)
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