Review of THIS IS HOW WE LOVE by Lisa Moore (New Release)

 4 Stars

This latest Lisa Moore novel is an examination of family and the nature of love.

Twenty-one-year-old Xavier is unconscious in a hospital in St. Johns, Newfoundland, after being badly beaten and stabbed twice.  His mother sits by his bedside as the snowstorm of the century (January 2020) rages outside.  While we wait to see if he will survive, we gradually learn what led to the attack and are introduced to Xavier’s extended family and friends and are told their backstories.  We learn about Xavier’s parents, Jules and Joe, and his sister Stella; about Joe’s parents Florence and John and his siblings Nancy and Gerry; about Jules’ parents and sister Nell; about Trinity Brophy and her foster mother Mary Mahoney; and about Xavier’s relationship with his girlfriend Violet. 

The structure is not linear; instead, the book moves back and forth among different timelines and the perspectives of various characters.  The narrative often circles back to the present and Xavier’s condition.  As a result, there is a great deal of tension:  Who attacked Xavier?  Why?  Will he survive the infection that seems not to respond to antibiotics?  Will Joe, stranded in Montreal because of the storm, be able to reach his son’s side? 

“She wanted me to know the different kinds of family there are, an infinite number, arbitrary in shape and form.”  There are families created by blood and others created by choice.  By marrying Joe, Jules becomes a stepmother and gains a mother-in-law “raised by foster parents.”  Trinity is largely abandoned by her mother but she is fostered by Mary Mahoney:  “I’d never seen anything like actual love between Mary and Trinity, but there was something more durable and remote, a sense of inviolate duty towards each other. . . . They were family.”  Jules also cares for Trinity:  “[Xavier had] heard his mother on the phone once saying that Trinity was like her own.”  When speaking of his employees, Xavier’s employer “used the word family.  Or a kind of family.”  An old man’s caregivers “said they felt like they were more than just caretakers.  They were . . . family.” 

And the people in these “families” show their love in various ways.  Florence’s foster parents “had lavished her with love.”  Yet Florence and her husband Joe do not speak of love:  “the mentioning of such private feelings . . . was out of the ordinary in Joe’s family” believing “it was better to prove a love than declare it.”  So Florence demonstrates her love for her grandson by gifting him his grandfather’s suit to wear to his graduation prom.  Sometimes a neighbour shows love by helping take a young woman to the hospital.  A boy Xavier helped years earlier saves him from being beaten and robbed.  Xavier goes to great lengths to get Violet a duvet.  All of these are ways people love. 

Florence gives Jules “an edict about loving everyone who swept through.  If you failed to love someone, you might be scathing toward them or hilarious at their expense, but even then, even if they were distasteful to you, even then, you were expected to attempt something that loosely resembled love.” In turn, Jules teaches her son “that some people came into your life . . . and . . .  you were responsible for them.”  Certainly, the novel has examples of what happens when someone is not loved.  Trinity, abandoned by her mother, looks for love where she can find it, and that may explain her relationship with Bradley Murphy.  It is not a stretch, for example, to argue that Bradley Murphy’s behaviour can be traced back to his upbringing; in his case, no one stepped in to show him love.  Obviously, the message is that love (and lack thereof) shapes lives and motivates one’s actions. 

The novel’s characterization is exceptional.  Though many of the characters seem to flit in and out of the narrative, we do in fact get to know them well.  I found myself being able to predict how characters would behave because their personalities and attitudes are so clearly delineated.  For instance, even when Xavier thinks, “Trinity Brophy was not his family and not his problem,” I knew exactly what he would do.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.  Some may dislike the style which may seem fragmentary and disjointed but I think it reflects the surreal situation which Xavier’s loved ones are experiencing.  The book left me thinking about love and “How it has nothing to do with blood or choosing or being chosen.  It has to do with being able.” 

Note:  I received a digital galley from the publisher via NetGalley.