Sebastian
Barry is an Irish writer I have always admired.
Today, from my Reviews Archive, I am featuring one of his novels to
which I gave my highest rating. Sebastian
Barry has appeared on the Man Booker lists three time, most recently for this
book in 2011.
Review of On Canaan’s Side
5 Stars
The
narrator is 89-year-old Lily Bere. Over seventeen days after the death of her
grandson, she recounts the major events of her life beginning with her
childhood in Ireland and continuing through her adulthood in America.
America
does not prove to be Canaan, the Biblical Promised Land. America is not a place
of refuge since Lily's life and the lives of her loved ones are dominated by
violence. Her story includes many of the historical events of the twentieth
century (war, racial tensions). These events are not detailed; the focus is on
the damage they leave in their wake. Her presence in the wings of so many
momentous events might seem far-fetched, but there is an emotional truth in
Lily's narrative.
Lily is a
character who will long remain with the reader. Her life story is full of
hatred and vengefulness, but it is told by a humble, kind, non-judgmental, and
compassionate woman. Her stoicism and indomitable will in the face of multiple
bereavements and separations and hardships is remarkable, as is her joy in
small pleasures. Lily attributes all of these qualities to Mrs. Wolohan, her
long-time employer, not realizing she herself possesses them in abundance.
Obviously,
this is a novel of memory and remembrance. Early in her "confession"
Lily mentions that "There is no inoculation against [memory]" (83).
It is this very remembering that brings her deliverance: "To remember
sometimes is a great sorrow, but when the remembering has been done, there
comes afterwards a very curious peacefulness. Because you have planted your
flag on the summit of the sorrow. You have climbed it" (217).
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