Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 27, 2006, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press sunday August 27, 2006 editor Morley Walker / 697-7307 email books b7 novel lightly satiric nicely paced but also conventional innocuous the Garneau Block by Todd Babiak Mcclelland & Stewart 401 pages $33 reviewed by Morley Walker a Winnipeg Ger Reading this easy going literary novel out of Edmonton May feel a charge of recognition. The Alberta capital As portrayed by author Todd Babiak is much like our own City a Winter Metropolis defined by its Neighbour hoods a place insecure about its role in the future a place As one character contends needlessly complicated unsure Artsy and in his Day Job Babiak 34, is the Edmonton journals culture columnist. He wrote his novel in 2005 to be published in 1,000-word chapters in his newspaper in the grand tradition of Charles Dickens 160 years ago. Like other modern examples of serialized fiction Alexander Mccall Smiths 44 Scotland Street and armis Tead maupins tales of the City the Garneau Block features an ensemble cast of characters United by their place of residence. In tone the novel is reminiscent of the ctr dramatic comedy series Rob son arms itself a tales of the City clone. There is also a hint of Miriam Toews debut novel summer of my amazing Luck. The Story which opens in the fall of 2003, is accessible charming lightly satiric and nicely paced. But it is also conventional in style innocuous in con tent and shameless in its local Booster ism. Babiak a characters live on a five House Crescent called Garneau in the real life neighbourhood of old Strath Cona. For those who know Edmonton this is a Wolseley like District on the South Side of the North Saskatchewan River near Whyte Avenue and the University of Alberta. The people Are drawn together in two interconnecting plot lines. The first concerns their attempt to repair the neighbourhoods self esteem Fol lowing a mysterious death of a Young father. The second which occurs As civic fallout to the Domestic trauma follows their Challenge to Garneau a expropriation by the University which wants to build a veterinary research Centre. The characters must also Deal with their own mini dramas. The main protagonist Madison Weiss is an under achieving 30-year-old unhappy with her work As a travel agent and preg Nant with no husband in the picture. She lives in the basement suite of her parents Home where her father is a kind of upscale Archie Bunker. She finds emotional support from her Best Friend a Gay actor who realizes that his own career is stalled. City As character the most noteworthy character however remains Edmonton itself. From afar one thinks of the entire province of Alberta As being buoyed by the optimism of Oil wealth. But Babiak a City is not so self confident. It is still shaken by the loss of Wayne Gretzky worried about losing ground to Calgary and obsessed with its tragic habit of voting against its own interests of settling for grilled Tofu when it could have Bison with fancy Bacon and Blueberry Babiak whose debut novel choke hold was published in 2000 by Winnipeg a Turnstone press writes with understated fluency. Aside from mis spelling Gandhi three times he boasts technical skills beyond reproach. He also does an impressive Job of delineating his characters personalities and propelling Forward their inter connected storyline. But aside from the Central romantic subplot involving Madison and a Gar Neau Denizen who carries the novels mythic freight none Are particularly exciting. Perhaps this is inexperience. Early on for example he has a Horny philos Ophy prof acknowledge that he was an old Man now ? six years from 60.? week. Does to Babiak know that 50 is the new 40? at least it is outside Alberta. Arts columnist Morley Walker edits the free press books Section. Family a despair achingly captured uns Tolen by Wendy Jean pan books 311 pages $30 reviewed by Sharon Chisvin As the Whitmore paedophilia headlines recently indicated there is nothing quite As horrifying for parents to Deal with As the abduction of their Chil Dren by strangers. While in that Case the two kidnapped boys were found and returned to their Homes tragically this is not always the Case. Too often abducted children Are never located and their families must live for Ever with the horror of their disappear Ance. It was a 1991 incident such As this in Victoria b.c., that prompted aspiring Canadian writer Wendy Jean to write uns Tolen. Her debut novel was selected As one of six finalists in a British based How to get published contest that attracted More than 45,000 entries. It is Clear Why this novel was selected. Although it falters along the Way it nonetheless achingly captures the despair of a shattered family and the Way in which this despair reverberates through the generations. While not As hauntingly moving As the Lovely Bones to which it will be unfairly compared it is As effective and truth Ful As the deep end of the Ocean to which it deserves comparison. As in this latter novel jeans Narra Tive revolves around the disappearance of a Young boy and the Way in which his family deals or does not Deal with this life altering event. The Story is told in flashbacks by Bethany a Young single Mother and police sketch artist who was an infant when her four year old brother Michael was lured away by a Puppy and stolen at a family Outing. From that moment on their Mother becomes obsessed with his disappear Ance and hysterically convinced of his return while Bethany the remaining child becomes the uns Tolen. The thing about being the uns Tolen one Bethany reveals is that you a bet Ter be Strong you a better stay Safe you a better not Rock any boats or surely they will this of course is an impossible task for a child and ultimately in spite of Bethany a Best efforts the boats were rocked and weighted Down by pain grief and guilt did eventually sink. Bethany a father leaves her Mother disappears into her despair and Bethany becomes pregnant at a very Young age. It is Only Many years later when another unimaginable crisis forces the family into therapy that they begin to unburden themselves and cautiously begin to heal. While the description of these therapy sessions tends to seem forced and their dialogue maudlin they do offer glimpses of jeans burgeoning literary Talent. She has tackled a painful and disturb ing subject and from it has created believable characters whose grief and regret Are palpable. By introducing readers to Bethany and her fractured family Jean demonstrates just How crimes against children destroy much More than the child. Sharon Chisvin is a Winnipeg writer and editor. Compelling tale amid Irish famine the Law of dreams by Peter Behrens Nansi press 393 pages $33 reviewed by Angela Narth Peter Behrens first novel is a compelling Story of survival and Hope set in the midst of the Irish potato famine. A lengthy yet surprisingly fast moving Story the Law of dreams is sure to establish this Canadian writer As a Seri Ous literary Talent. Known in Ireland As the great hunger the famine that swept the Emer Ald Isle Between 1845 and 1849 is said to have had More Impact on Irish tradition and culture than any other single event in its history. A disastrous convergence of factors ? Laws limiting the size of land holdings dependence on the potato for subsistence a devastating blight that hit Europe a potato crop and ensuing out Breaks of cholera and typhus ? resulted in the loss in under five years of Over one Quarter of Ireland a population. It is estimated that Between 700,000 and one million people died As a direct or indirect result of the famine. A further estimated two million were left Home less when British landlords not wishing to be held responsible for their tenants turned the sick and starving out to fend tense the journey rugged. From the blighted bogs of Ireland to seedy British alleys and whore houses on to the quarantine fever Sheds on the docks in Montreal Fergus searches for an understanding of the Law that directs the outcome of his dreams. He aligns himself with a series of Strong yet vulnerable people who enable him to develop an amazing capacity for compassion a compassion which ultimately seals his own Fate. Behrens use of Crisp dialogue clearly conveys the fear the longing and the unbridled Hope of a Young Man Teeter ing on the Brink Between starvation and salvation. But it is in his economical narrative that Behrens truly shines. Life honed to the very Edge. Sharpened on a whet Stone. Chopping through the Days. Work ing time like it was a sweep of originally from Montreal and now Liv ing in Maine Behrens has had a Multi dimensional career As screenwriter actor film consultant and writer of Short fiction. His Short stories and essays have appeared in saturday night the Atlantic monthly and the National Post and have been published in two Canadian anthologies. His collection of Short stories night driving Macmillan was published info themselves. They Are burned alive by their British 1987. With this appalling tableau As a landlord Fergus flees his Small Village to perhaps Behrens has finally found his drop Behrens focuses on Fergus Dublin and on to Liverpool Only to meet True calling As a novelist. Obrien a Young orphaned Irish lad As people whose lives seem even More Des he attempts to reach adulthood with his Perate than his own. Angela Narth is a Winnipeg writer dreams intact. The Law of dreams is somewhat Rem whose Irish maternal great grandpa carrying with him the Seething reminiscent of Leon Uris Trinity but with ends settled in Western Quebec in 1852. Ory of his ill and starving parents lying an Edge. The writing is raw and Pas in their Sod hut begging for mercy As Sion ate the characters stripped of pre miracles can to fill holes in novel before i Wake by Robert j. Wiersema random House 371 pages $33 by Harriet Zaidman the epic Battle Between Good and evil is waged through a series of miracles purportedly accomplished by a comatose three year old in this first novel by Robert j. Wiersema. The bookseller and reviewer reaches to the Story of Christ a betrayal and crucifixion a contrived twist that is supposed to add tension to a Domestic Story that takes place in 1996, in Wiersema a own Hometown of Victoria. Karen Barrett stays at Home with her toddler Sherilynn an Only child who was born after years of trying. Mom and Tot go on a regular Outing to buy a treat and Are hit by a truck As they Cross the Street. Karen recovers but doctors advise her and her husband Simon to take Sherry off life support. Defying med ical expectations Sherry a heart continues beating although she does not regain consciousness. The Accident exposes cracks in their marriage. Simon who has been having an affair with a Junior lawyer in his firm moves out. He visits every Day while Karen and a nurse care for Sherry. Inexplicably Sherry does not need the line physiotherapy or other palliative Mea grows sures normally Given longer of to bedridden patients. The arthritic nurse those who soon discovers that Hope to Beher joints no longer cured of ache. Word spreads through the commune their Dis to that Little Sherry eases can heal the sick. Karen and Simon Are not interested in religion but resolutely put aside their scepticism and marriage difficulties to Welcome pilgrims into their Home. The line grows longer of those who Hope to be cured of their diseases. The devoted parents also read aloud letters sent by sick people. Hovering around outside the House Are protesters led by a sinister looking priest who declares that the Barretts Are claiming false miracles and profiting from desperate people. Meanwhile Henry the Driver of the truck flees the scene. Tormented he tries to commit suicide Only to be res cued by an invisible hand. Caught in Between this world and the next Henry discovers that there Are Many other ghosts seeking forgive Ness and that they will roam the nether regions of life for eternity. Narrated in the voices of the major characters that surround Little Sherry a bed All Are affected in some Way by her presence and plight. Each individual reflects on his or her past As the plot advances. But they Are Stock characters with Little subtlety and the dialogue Between them is Flat and glib. Simon digs out his guitar from the attic clears his Throat and recalls How he once moved by music and love not Law and Long hours. Karen gave up a career As a journalist before Sherry a birth and is now determined to record the stories she has stored inside. Mary the mistress is doomed to be a second fiddle. Holes there Are holes in the plot that Are not explained satisfactorily such As Why Simon and Sherry take no Mea sures to protect their House knowing that they Are threatened. The notion that the police and the local newspaper have All been paid off by the mysterious father Peter is expedient but improbable. A boy who has supposedly experienced a Miracle cure cannot be contacted. Weak writing further impairs before i Wake. The actions of the religious fanatics Are hackneyed. Wiersema uses the verb wave repeatedly noticeably and annoyingly. Issues Are mentioned but not developed As sup porting subplots including the strained relationship Between Karen and her Mother and Simon a fathers abandonment of his family. The forces of Good Are ready to meet the Challenge of evil in a predictable and unmoving Climax. Even More fantastic is the Miracle ending which takes the word Saccharine to new lev Els. Harriet Zaidman is a teacher librarian in Winnipeg ;