Review of GULL ISLAND by Anna Porter

 2.5 Stars

This book was a major disappointment.

Jude Bogdan returns to her family’s cottage on a private island in Georgian Bay.  Her mother, who is dealing with encroaching dementia, wants Jude to look for her father’s will after his mysterious disappearance a month earlier.  Besides searching for the will, Jude also scours her memories and looks through old photos for evidence that she was loved.  But all she finds and remembers is a dysfunctional family with a distant mother, a cruel father, a jealous sister, and her mother’s mysterious friend Eve. 

It becomes clear early on that Jude is an unreliable narrator.  She spends most of her time operating in a fog of alcohol so her memories are clouded.  She drinks so much she doesn’t remember how much she drinks and even experiences blackouts.  While at the cottage, she has to contend with solitude, darkness, and wildlife.  The crows and gulls seem hostile, and she keeps hearing strange noises and encountering foul odours.  The reader cannot but wonder what is real and what are just overwrought imaginings or inebriated hallucinations.  Jude even questions her own sanity.

And things are complicated by the fact that we are given only Jude’s point of view:  we are privy only to her version of events and her perception of what is happening.  In the present, she never interacts with anyone; only in flashbacks is there any direct dialogue.  Since no one else is present, the reader has no way of gauging the accuracy of Jude’s reactions to what she sees and hears.  Jude’s narration often goes in circles as she returns to objects or events, but the reader is left to try and determine if these repetitions have deeper meaning or implications. 

I found it difficult to connect with any of the characters.  They are all unlikeable.  Mother never hugged Jude; her sister Gina saw her son William only as a burden; and Father can only be described as a monster.  Actually Murray Bogdan is almost a cartoon villain; he’s unfeeling, self-centred, and emotionally and physically abusive.  He’s involved in unsavoury business dealings and enjoys killing animals.  Of course, everything we learn about him is through Jude so the reader must be cautious of her vilifications.

Jude discovers some facts about her past and her family members while she is at the cottage.  I don’t know whether these discoveries were intended to be shocking, but they’re not.  What she learns about her birth, Scoop’s death, William’s death, and her father’s illegal business transactions are obvious almost from the beginning.

The one surprise is the ending.  It is abrupt and will undoubtedly leave the reader confused.  I understand what Jude did and why, but . . . there are many unanswered questions.  Normally, I’d go back and re-read the book to see what clues I’d missed, but I was so bored while reading it that I am not going to repeat the drudgery.

I cannot recommend this book.  It’s very slow.  Jude is frightened by noises she hears, and I assume these are supposed to create suspense.  I found, however, that because they are mentioned so often, they just become annoying.  Maybe if I were to read it while alone on a remote island I might have a different reaction.