Review of COME TO THE WINDOW by Howard Norman

 3.5 Stars

This novel, set in Nova Scotia, begins in 1918 in the last year of World War I as the Spanish flu begins its deadly rampage across the province. The narrator is Toby Havenshaw, a court reporter sent to Parrsboro for the trial of Elizabeth Frame. She admits to killing her husband on their wedding night and pushing the murder weapon into the blowhole of a beached whale. She makes more surprising revelations, but the trial is cut short when she escapes with Peter Lear, the court stenographer.

Though he returns to Halifax, Toby becomes almost obsessed with following Elizabeth and Peter. He tries to understand Elizabeth’s motives and Peter’s as well, especially after he learns more about Elizabeth’s past. In the end, Toby’s life becomes inextricably entwined with Elizabeth’s.

The novel examines the effects of trauma. People suffer trauma because of the actions and deaths of loved ones. There’s the pandemic, which will have the reader drawing parallels to the COVID-19 pandemic. People not only maintain physical distance but also become distrustful. The war is still waging and there are several characters who are suffering from PTSD, Peter Lear and the man given the job of detonating the whale’s carcass being two obvious examples. Amelia, Toby’s wife, is a surgeon who has returned from France, and she speaks openly about being changed by the horrors she witnessed.

What stands out for me is Toby and Amelia’s relationship. The two so obviously love and support each other. In a book with little humour, there is some in their exchanges. I correctly guessed how events would come together for the couple. If there is a message in the book, it’s that love can help people navigate through and recover from difficult times.

The title comes from Matthew Arnold’s poem “Dover Beach” which, like the novel, speaks of a time “Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, / Where ignorant armies clash by night.” The speaker pleads, “Ah, love, let us be true / To one another!” and that seems to be Toby and Amelia’s response to the chaos that surrounds them.

At just over 200 pages, this is not a long novel, but it speaks movingly about the human condition. In the end it is hopeful in a way not expected given the circumstances.