Review of THE ASH MUSEUM by Rebecca Smith

4 Stars 

This novel covers five generations of the Ash family over a period of one hundred years; though England is home for the Ashes, there are forays to Canada and India; in fact, two members of the second generation are born in Canada and two members of the third generation are born in India.

The book is about the search for somewhere to feel at home.  In the early twentieth century, Emmeline and Edward try to make a “life as homesteaders” in Canada, but Emmeline finds “The sky was too big.  The land stretched away too far.”  Their grandson Jay, born in India, is brought to England as a teenager.  Though England is his home and he refuses to discuss his childhood in India, he is always looking for “his view”.  His situation is like that of a vagrant pelican seen by Jay’s daughter Emmie and granddaughter Jasmine:  “that pelican, a vagrant, all alone in the wrong country.  What could a vagrant pelican do?  Where would it live?  Was it always on a hopeless quest for another of its kind?”  Emmie, because she is of mixed race, encounters prejudice as a schoolgirl and wants to be like the rhododendrons and azaleas:  “The flowers seemed at home and part of the English forest though their ancestors had come from the Himalayas.”

As the title suggests, the book is organized like a visit to a museum.  There are many short chapters, each one based on an artifact that might have found its way to a museum of the Ash family.  As the introduction makes clear, the tour is not arranged chronologically:  “Our guide offers a path through the museum that we hope visitors will find enjoyable and enlightening.  If you wish to view the displays chronologically . . . you will have to start elsewhere.”  This arrangement is appropriate because it is disorienting at times for the reader, thereby mirroring the disorientation felt by the characters who suffer traumatic loss (a parent, a spouse, a home) and must find a way to proceed. 

The non-chronological structure also allows the reader to see connections that might otherwise be less obvious.  I loved the common interests that appear in various generations.  Emmie and her great-aunt both work in a library.  Emmie and her paternal grandmother Josmi collect pieces of broken china.  Objects are passed down through the family so we see how Emmeline receives a fur coat and how it is eventually used by her great-granddaughter. 

The reader is emotionally engaged in various ways.  Josmi’s fate is heart-wrenching, and Emmie’s experiences at school will shock and anger.  There is sadness because life does not work out for all characters as they might wish, and several people experience tragedy.  But there is also romance, sometimes totally unexpected.  And there is also humour; I especially enjoyed a chapter devoted to Margaret.  She sees a busker with a sign “Spare Change Pleaz” and she thinks, “How could one know if one’s change was actually spare?  The busker was underselling himself too.  If he hadn’t had that sign, people might have been inclined to drop notes rather than coins into his hat.  And he should have had a comma before ‘please’ and spelled it correctly.”

Several issues are examined.  For instance, colonialism is addressed:  “The whole history of mankind . . . is a story of conquering and stealing and taking and selling, of finding ways to dominate, to enclose, and to slaughter.”  Emmie’s thoughts are noteworthy on this topic:  “It was good, Emmie thought, that her [English] grandpa had been one of the people who’d helped make India a great nation, although if it had already been one when England was full of savages, there must have been a time when things went wrong.”  Racism is addressed.  The comments made by Audrey Pheasant and Sue Namey are clearly racist.  Emmie, however, is not subjected to the jeers and physical attacks that a classmate faces:  “Was it because she was a paler shade of brown?  Was it because she was a girl, and so people treated her more kindly or saw her as less of a threat?  Could it have been because people had seen her [white] mum?”

There are many characters, but it is not difficult to differentiate them.  Some I wish had been more developed.  James, for instance, takes Josmi, an Indian woman, as a lover and has two children with her.  He tells her he loves her but he never tells his family about her.  Though she appears in a picture of dancers, James writes to his mother, “You wanted to know who the dancers in the photograph were – those dancers are nobody.”  Did he love Josmi?  Was he too cowardly to say anything to his family?  Was he trying to spare the feelings of Lucinda who was viewed as his intended wife?  Lucinda’s behaviour towards James’ children is admirable, but she seems almost too good to be believable.

This is a very enjoyable read.  It has interesting characters to whom the reader can relate, addresses important issues, and is emotionally engaging.  I enjoy visiting museums so this tour of a family’s artifacts was perfect for me.

Note:  I received an eARC from the publisher.