4 Stars
Sam and Elena are sisters living on San Juan Island in the Pacific Northwest. They have unrewarding jobs in the hospitality industry as they struggle financially to make ends meet. Besides a mortgage and living expenses, their mother’s terminal illness has resulted in spiraling medical bills. One day a bear turns up outside their home. Sam is terrified but Elena is enchanted and exhilarated by its presence, so much so that she encourages further encounters. The bond between the sisters frays as they clash over their perceptions of the bear’s repeated appearances in their lives.
The story is narrated from the third person point of view but entirely from Sam’s perspective. As the novel progresses, the reader cannot but question the reliability of her viewpoint, especially when it becomes clear that Sam may not know her older sister as well as she thinks.
The sisters, though very close in age, are very different. Self-absorbed and very reliant on Elena, Sam is emotionally immature. She rages against her lot in life, always complaining about the world’s injustices: she sees the “whole world . . . [as] twisted and threatening and completely unfair.” She is resentful of anyone she perceives as having more than she does, whether that be money, education, or opportunities. Her resentments often have little basis in reality because she always assumes the worst. For instance, she assumes that Ben, the man with whom she has regular sex, thinks she is ignorant because he has seen more of the world, and she is angry because he has more freedom than she has. Restless, she yearns to get away, dreaming of a better future once their mother dies and they can sell the house and leave the boredom and oppressive nature of their lives. She is a fantasist, coping with life by telling herself stories, with a skill “of picturing things better than they would ever be.”
Elena, on the other hand, is the pragmatist who faces obstacles calmly. She’s the one who deals with life’s practicalities such as paying the bills. She’s the organized and reliable one who takes most responsibility for the care of their mother. It’s very telling that when Sam helps her mother to the bathroom, her mother asks her not to be rough and not to rush. Elena has the patience Sam does not. Unlike Sam, Elena is always smiling and friendly with others.
How the sisters respond to the bear illustrates their personalities. One sees the bear as a threat, the other, as a wonder. Sam wonders and worries why the bear chose their house while Elena thinks they’re so lucky that it did. Sam wants to flee the situation whereas Elena wants to embrace it, saying, “’What’s going on here is not dangerous. It’s magical. It’s the best thing that has ever happened to us.’” She speaks of it as “a specter, a spirit, an extraordinary beast. A visitor from someplace enchanted. A vision of the mysterious world.”
And the arrival of the bear unravels their closeness, bringing to the forefront frustrations, worries, and resentments. The bear is really a metaphor for all that is keeping them apart. Both have secrets not shared with the other sibling. Sam realizes how different she and her sister really are, though to the reader it’s more obvious that Sam doesn’t really know her sister as well as she thinks. Like about other people, she makes assumptions about Elena, and she has expectations of her that are not grounded in reality.
What speaks to the complexity of the character development is that both sisters are both relatable and frustrating. Elena’s behaviour, enticing the bear with food, is both illegal and an inappropriate obsession. The wildlife expert warns of the dangers of feeding, both to humans and the animal. On the other hand, it is possible to understand how the constant stresses in her life can lead to her seeing the bear as a friend, as a symbol of possibilities in life; even the wildlife expert says that when people are overwhelmed, they “’act without thinking. It’s completely understandable.’” A bear is a wild and potentially dangerous animal so Sam’s worries are not without merit, but then I couldn’t help but wonder if her concerns are for Elena’s safety or because of jealousy of the bear. Some of her actions are manipulative, selfish attempts to get Elena to agree with Sam’s plans for the future.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There is a great deal to ponder: the symbolism of the bear is one topic worthy of analysis, and the purposes of the parallels to the “Snow-White and Rose-Red” fairy tale is another. The causes of rifts in relationships as portrayed in the novel would also make a good essay topic. My first reading left me with a lot to think about, and I think a second reading would reveal more layers and nuances.
Note: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
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