Next Life Might Be Kinder by Howard NormanMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I found the ending of this book unsatisfactory. It didn't feel like a conclusion so much as just a stop. Aside from that I thought the book was well written and the story was compelling. The story is set in Nova Scotia (Halifax and in a beach community an hour away) and the narrative switches back and forth between the present and about a year previous.
One of the characters in the novel is a librarian whom I found charming. I am often very annoyed by the way librarians are depicted in books, but this one was good. Here is how she describes her life:
"Born in Anglo Tignish, Prince Edward Island. My mother and father were living there for a few years. But I grew up mostly in Kentville. Up through high school. Then off to study library science in Montreal. Then an early marriage. Then an early end to it. Ha-ha! Then assistant libraran in Bridgewater. Then fed up with Bridgewater. Then searched the job listings and up popped Port Medway." (p.174)On the next page she quotes Robertson Davies so I had to like her.
Norman is an American, but he wrote with great affection about Maritime Canada and there was a lot of scenery (and birds) described in some detail. I hadn't read anything by him before, but would definitely read more of his work.
This book counts toward the Canadian Book Challenge 7.
As an American, Howard Norman must have spent some time in NS...I've never seen the small towns of Kentville and Bridgewater mentioned in a book before. Almost makes me homesick ;)
ReplyDelete