Shirley Kossick
THE GIANT’S HOUSE by Elizabeth McCracken (Jonathan Cape, R69,95)
FALL ON YOUR KNEES by Ann-Marie MacDonald=20 (Jonathan Cape, R84,95)
A RATIONAL MAN by Teresa Benison=20 (Vintage, R62)
ELIZABETH McCRACKEN was chosen as one of Granta magazine’s 20 best young Am= eri
can writers on the strength of her short story collection, Here’s Your Hat,= Wh
at’s Your Hurry, published in 1993. She now lives up to that promise in her= fi
rst novel, The Giant’s House, which tells the story of a strange – not to s= ay=20
bizarre – love affair.
The novel is narrated in the cool, matter-of-fact tones of Peggy Cort, libr= ari
an and confirmed spinster at 28. She opens with the curt assertion that “I = do=20
not love mankind”, but in 1950 when the gangly, 11-year-old James enters he= r l ibrary she begins to make an important exception: “I do not love mankind, b= ut=20
he was different.”
Without self-delusion or sentimentality, Peggy develops an obsession about = the
over-tall boy who is destined to become an eight-foot freak. Fragile and d=
epe
ndent, yet yearning for the life of a normal youngster, James is an unforge= tta
ble character, vividly drawn by=20 McCracken.
The severe Peggy also grows on one as the author compels us to sympathose w= ith
her outr=E9 passion and her ruthless honesty. What emerges has something i=
n com mon with Harold and Maud, but without the macabre humour and with considera= bly
more complexity and depth.
Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Fall on Your Knees also focuses partly on obsessive l= ove
, in this case that of a father for his eldest daughter. This massive first= no
vel is an epic in the full sense of the word, tracing the history of a fami= ly=20
through three generations and spanning the first half of the 20th century.
Set on Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, the narrative also conveys the great socia= l a nd economic changes that the decades bring to a pioneer society. Counterpoi= nti
ng this historical perspective is a section of diary entries entitled Hejir= a,=20
which superbly evokes the excitement and creativity of the jazz age in New = Yor
k.
These entries are written by Kathleen, the eldest of the four Piper sisters= ar
ound whom the plot revolves. The paterfamilias, James Piper, is a complex a= nd=20
often unsympathetic character, but one’s interest in him and his daughters = sel
dom flags.=20
We also encounter the family of his Lebanese wife – who resent her youthful= el
opement – and, even more dramatically, the Afro-American Taylors, who are i= nex
tricably linked to both families.
Kathleen is a talented singer who goes to New York for voice training, leav= ing
behind two younger sisters: the unruly and self-destructive Frances, and M=
erc
edes, whose fanatical religious faith turns to ashes in the course of the n= arr
ative. The youngest and most adored of the daughters, Lily, is a semi-inval= id,
whose presence in the family takes on a symbolic significance.
This is a powerful and meaty novel, skilfully controlled and lucidly writte= n.=20
Though it could perhaps have benefitted from some judicious editing to redu= ce=20
its bulk, I think MacDonald – already a noted playwright – is well on her w= ay=20
to becoming a major voice in Canadian fiction.
Teresa Benison’s novel A Rational Man is also about family life and the sec= ret
s that can destroy its stability. In this case, the calm surface of Alex an= d J onathan’s marriage is threatened when the truth about his father suddenly e= mer
ges.
This trauma frames the central section of the novel, which concerns the his= tor
y of Charles, Jonathan’s father. In what Alex calls an “act of exhumation” = his
experiences are revealed along with their repercussions.
Not as monumental as Fall on Your Knees (though equally in need of some gen= tle
cutting) nor as highly charged as The Giant’s House, A Rational Man is non=
eth
eless an impressive debut. It comes with a cover endorsement from Anita Bro= okn
er, who calls it “a beguiling novel of love and infidelity” – high praise i= nde
ed from so discriminating a writer and critic.
SPORTS