Grace Campbell (1895–1963)

Apart from one element, which was fairly disturbing, I really enjoyed this book. It is beautifully written, but economically so. Although there is enough and good enough description that I felt the setting perfectly, I didn’t feel like I was subjected to needless poetry. (Imagine poetry being needless!) The story focusses on the worlds of two characters who are quickly married and viewpoint shifts from one to the other quite comfortably. I enjoyed learning about the Scottish Canadian community of close to 100 years ago, particularly as I have some roots there. It is something I hadn’t read much about before. I particularly liked the attention that she gave to the material culture. After all, whatever plot twists might come our way, their lives are spent working to stay alive and to build a good life. Whether it’s community efforts to raise a barn, setting aside fishcakes for the winter, or having a ceilidh, I found it fascinating to immerse myself in their way of life. But I also really enjoyed reading of the inner life of the characters, particularly the woman, Fairlie, and seeing her mature over the course of the book.

{{Plot Spoiler:
The disturbing element was the treatment of a First Nations woman who comes on the scene, and to a lesser extent a later scene with First Nations people. Campbell writes sympathetically about them, as best she can, and writes into her story people who disparage “Indians“ and people who befriend them. Nevertheless, the racism of the time, combined with the sexism, as well as the author’s own unaware racism come together to see a woman badly treated by a man who has previously lived with her in a sexual relationship and secondarily poorly treated by our protagonists. It was completely believable, their treatment of her, but Campbell was incapable of avoiding describing her in some ways that seemed to justify the community’s non-acceptance of her.}}

Deeply unpleasant as this Interlude was, it does offer insight into that community, and so is not completely out of place in this book. I greatly regret the section, though, because without it I would wholeheartedly endorse this book. Even with it, it is worth the read.

On a sidenote, the book was designed and the woodcuts created by Franklin Carmichael, one of a famous Canadian collection of artists, the Group of Seven.… (meer)