Although this diary series focuses on literary fiction, I am not a genre snob. One of the reasons is that I like the different ways stories can be told within various genres. And, one never knows when a book is going to deliver in more than one way.
That was the experience of reading Cherie Dimaline's Empire of Wild.
Dimaline begins the novel with a wide lens, looking at the way the Métis community in a little town came to exist after the people were pushed away from the shores of Lake Huron by richer folk. The community has members who remember the old ways, and members who are too busy making a living to even consider such things. But regardless of what any person thinks, Demaline begins the novel with the statement that certain things are stronger:
Old Medicine has a way of being remembered, of haunting the land where it was laid. People are forgetful. Medicine is not.
She then comes in for a close-up on Joan, whose husband Joan still loves even though he disappeared about a year ago. No one knows what happened to Vincent. He remains a deep part of Joan. He was "the man who was where she finally fit in the world" — a description I find particularly striking.
In this era of so much loss, Dimaline's description of Joan's heartache, which has a hold on every part of her, is piercing and profound. Joan's ongoing hurt has a beating heart.
After another night of hard drinking, Joan ends up in a revival tent set up in a Walmart parking lot. The preacher is Vincent -- her Vincent. Even though he doesn't know it, she does.
Is it really Vincent? Has Joan's grief cut off her grip on sanity? If it really is her husband, what is she going to do, especially with the revival folk forming a wall of security around the man they call their Rev. Wolff?
The main body of the novel is a well-paced tale within the horror/supernatural genre. Because the main character and her story have been introduced so thoroughly, a statement like this one below fits both the complex journey of a soul who has lost its reason for being and the story of being pursued by a monster:
All fear had to do was let doubt do the dirty work and then it could move right in, past the rubble of a person’s defences.
The novel wouldn't work without the solid characterizations of Joan and her extended family, especially a younger cousin who adores her and one of the elder women of the community. The skepticism of her mother and brothers brings balance to the story. They are all portrayed in such a strong, sure manner that I would like to read more about them all in further books, the way characters from earlier Louise Erdrich stories often appear in later ones.
In addition Dimaline rounds out two of the characters in the revival church, to delve into the kinds of people who might be drawn to such a church. There is more than one kind of monster in this story.
Dimaline also is good at weaving into the narrative connections, such as the ties between the people and the land, and how the greed for other people's lands is as viable in a horror novel as in any other kind of fiction.
The author first came to my attention with her YA dystopian novel, The Marrow Thieves, in which the Canadian government tries to harvest the bone marrow of indigenous people. They are the only ones who can still dream. That novel won both the Governor General's Literacy Award for Young People's Fiction and the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers Literature. In interviews, Dimaline has said she is not a Canadian novelist. She is Métis.
To me, she is an author to honor. Her stories honor people, their lives, their loves, their beliefs. Regardless of labels.
P.S. As the world works to retain its balance, I’m seeing on several platforms that more people are interested in books, reading and starting to have conversations again about their reading.
So I’m thinking of trying to hold a book club every now and then on my diary night. The ability to take our time, in our own time periods, considering our reactions and to draft our responses through this platform is something that I’ve seen work well in the past elsewhere. Thoughts?
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