This book was recommended by the same friends that recommended Project Hail-Mary. Since that one was good, I dove into this one with enthusiasm. Like that previous recommendation, this one was also good.
This lost-and-found family story begins with a Nova Scotian native family of berry pickers working in Maine. One random summer day, after a family lunch, the youngest child, Ruthie, disappears. The family searches the woods and surrounding area in vain, and after a few years of returning for work and searching, they eventually stop coming and keep Ruthie in their memory only. At this same time, we meet Norma, only child in a small-town family not far away in Maine. Norma’s mother, Lenore, had a long history of lost pregnancies, and in her despair and desperation, sees her “found” daughter as her salvation. It takes 50 years, but eventually the truth emerges, and Ruthie is reunited with the remains of her original family.
I enjoyed this family story, and while the “mystery” became clear very early, it remained captivating to follow along through to the resolution. There is sadness in the many missed opportunities along the way and the losses each family has to experience, but the ultimate redemption at the end is sweet and complete.
The novel is well written, and the back-and-forth parallel structure and even pace are handled very well. One challenge I had was with the time periods and how much time was passing in some sections. Following the few dates given and the 50-year time line, the later sections would have been in the early- to mid-2010s. There is no suggestion of the internet – looking for news, people, addresses online would have been pretty common and accessible, but instead Norma/Ruthie relies on long-distance travel, photocopies of newspaper articles, and the postal system to track down her original family. Similarly, when Joe takes “a few days off” for a road trip, he travels from Maine to Saskatchewan, a trip of almost 4,000km each way – a bit more than a few days.
This was a nice Canadian family story, with a First Nations thread as a backdrop rather than the driver. The native-ness of the original family and of Norma/Ruthie becomes part of the mystery but doesn’t overtake the family situations or their resolutions. I enjoyed this book and look forward to more from this author.
Fate: I’ll try to get this to another reader I think will enjoy it.
1 – book with a murder
4 – pub in 2024
7 – debut
8 – female author
25 – new author to me
33 – Canadian author
rclr 