Publisher: Other Press/Doubleday Canada
Genre: Literary Fiction
Source: NetGalley
Review
I don't know if you've ever read Alistair Macleod but he's this really great Canadian writer who is amazing at describing the settings of his books. Since most of his books take place on the Canadian east coast this means he's really good at making you feel damp and cold. Michael Crummey, another native of the Canadian east coast (Newfoundland to be exact) can now be said to share that gift.
Galore takes place is a small fishing village on the east coast and chronicles the lives of the Devine family. The novel spans across generations, beginning with the arrival of a beached whale on the shores of Paradise Deep. Upon further examination of the whale, a man is found in his stomach. Much to everyone's amazement this man is still alive but unable to speak. He is named Judah and taken in by the Devine family. Following children and grand children, you watch as this family survives against an incredibly harsh climate, decades long disputes, political changes and a war.
This book was brilliant! Like I mentioned earlier Crummey does an amazing job at setting the scene. Newfoundland (weather-wise) is not the ideal place to be. It rains, a lot, and winters are harsh and difficult – especially if you're a remote fishing village. Crummey makes you feel like you're facing this atmosphere head on with the characters and he does so in a way that you don't even notice it. It's mixed right in with the dialogue and action. I don't mean to suggest that you're going to be shivering while you read this but you are definitely going to empathize with these towns-people.
As for the characters, there are certainly a lot of them. I think all in all the book spans 4-5 generations of the Devine family and you get to know each generation quite intimately. Though many of their problems are the same, each character is also unique. I felt like I knew each one and as a result there were some I connected with and some I despised. You get swept up in all the family squabbles and long time disputes. The relationships that formed were also quite beautiful in their way. Due to the time period and place, people didn't generally come together via romantic love but many of their relationships still ended up strong and respectful. And when love was involved there was usually heartache to go with it. The heartache and other emotions just felt so real and so human. It was easy to forget you were reading a book and not just hearing about people you've known your whole life.
Galore is not a light read. It's not depressing either. It's a full range of thoughts and emotions, the same way that you experience a full range of thoughts and emotions in a life. It's beautifully written and well crafted. Michael Crummey is clearly a very talented author and one I look forward to reading more of in the future.
About the Author (from Goodreads)
Born in Buchans, Newfoundland, Crummey grew up there and in Wabush, Labrador, where he moved with his family in the late 1970s. He went to university with no idea what to do with his life and, to make matters worse, started writing poems in his first year. Just before graduating with a BA in English he won the Gregory Power Poetry Award. First prize was three hundred dollars (big bucks back in 1987) and it gave him the mistaken impression there was money to be made in poetry.
Crummey's debut novel, River Thieves (2001) was a Canadian bestseller, winning the Thomas Head Raddall Award and the Winterset Award for Excellence in Newfoundland Writing. It was also shortlisted for the Giller Prize, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the Books in Canada First Novel Award, and the IMPAC Award. His second novel, The Wreckage (2005), was nominated for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and longlisted for the 2007 IMPAC Award.
Crummey's debut novel, River Thieves (2001) was a Canadian bestseller, winning the Thomas Head Raddall Award and the Winterset Award for Excellence in Newfoundland Writing. It was also shortlisted for the Giller Prize, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the Books in Canada First Novel Award, and the IMPAC Award. His second novel, The Wreckage (2005), was nominated for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and longlisted for the 2007 IMPAC Award.
Favourite Quotes
“They'd scaled the whale's back to drive a stake with a maul, hoping to strike some vital organ, and managed to set it bleeding steadily. They saw nothing for it then but to wait for God to do His work and they sat with their splitting knives and fish prongs, with their dip nets and axes and saws and barrels. The wind was razor sharp and Mary Tryphena lost all feeling in her hands and feet and her little arse went dunch on the sand while the whale expired in imperceptible increments. Jabez Trim waded out at intervals to prod at the fat saucer of an eye and report back on God's progress.”
"From what I have seen of the world, Reverend, motherhood is a certainty, but fatherhood is a subject of debate."
”Father Phelan claimed she was the only person in the new world he lived in fear of, which she dismissed as base flattery. –You’d be a half-decent priest if you gave up the drinking and whoring, she told him. – Half-decent, he said, wouldn’t be worth the sacrifice.”
You May Also Like...
No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod
Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
The Bishop's Man by Linden MacIntyre
Rating
5/5
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