Crow Lake by Mary Lawson - Review by Angi Harvey Williams
This is the second novel by Mary Lawson that I have read, and I have recently purchased a third – which proves that I have become a fan of this writer. Her early life was in Canada, but she has lived in the UK since 1968; clearly the landscape of Northern Ontario made a lasting impression on her as it is the setting for at least three of her four novels.
The story is told through the eyes of Kate as she looks back on her childhood and earlier adulthood. She is one of the four Morrison siblings who are orphaned early in the narrative. At the time of the death of their parents Luke is 19, Matt is 17, Kate is 10 and Bo is 18 months. Due to financial difficulties, only one of the older boys can continue in education, so Luke gives up his opportunity to go to teacher training college so that Matt (the more academically inclined of the two) can continue in education until he finishes school. He is due to go away to university when his plans are scuppered because he gets a girl pregnant. Kate hero worships Matt and grows up to see it as a tragedy that he was unable to pursue a university education, which she has been able to do. She becomes distanced from her family largely because she doesn’t want to “rub Matt’s nose in it” by talking about her own career and research. Fortunately, Kate returns to Crow Lake for her nephew’s 18th birthday party taking with her – for the first time – her partner Daniel. Comments he makes, and a reassessment of her own views, give the novel a positive ending.
Intertwined with the fate of the Morrisons is the story of another family, the Pyes. They are almost corrupted by the harshness and isolation of the small farming community in Northern Ontario. They act as a counterpoint to the Morrisons siblings who, despite living a bit chaotically, are bound together by love. They are also a contrast to many other people in the local community who look out for and help the orphans when they need to.
This may not sound like much of a plot, but Mary Lawson creates a beautiful story around sibling rivalries, misunderstandings, individual aspirations and love. Her writing style is understated and economic, which makes reading her novels such a pleasure. In the hands of a good writer, the quotidian and the things that drive character interaction can be drama enough, as they are in this fine novel. It won’t change your life, but you will smile in appreciation when you have read the last page. Recommended.