Crow Lake by Mary Lawson

Crow Lake is the name of the fictional settlement in Northern Ontario where narrator, Kate is born and lives until she leaves home to study for a degree. She now lives in Toronto where she is an invertebrate research scientist investigating the effect of detergents and pesticides on insects that walk on water. The theme of her research links back to her childhood when she and her older brother Matt spent hours by the ponds near their home studying insects and other wildlife. As a child Kate doted on Matt who is 10 years her senior, but at some point, the relationship changed.

The story swings back and forth between present day and the past. It begins with the death of Kate’s parents in a car crash when she is seven years old. Her eldest brother Luke who is 19 years old abandons his plan to go to teacher training college to look after Kate and her 18-month-old sister Bo. Matt, who is still at school, is academically gifted and keen to go to university. If he succeeds, he will be the first in the family to achieve this. The story unfolds of how they coped and how the close-knit community steps in to help. The characters are finely drawn, Luke the laid-back brother confident something will come along when money is short, Matt the serious brother and Bo although only a toddler is very determined and independently minded. Her antics are a moment of lightness in some of the darkness the family experience. Even the minor characters are skilfully developed. At times it felt like I was watching a play. The story of another family weaves in an out of Kate’s childhood story, that of the Pyes who live on a nearby farm where Matt and Luke frequently work to make ends meet. The cause of the distance between Kate and Matt is not revealed until the very end of the novel. There is a gradual build up to the reveal which is cleverly done. The book is beautifully written with lots of details of life in Crow Lake which brings it alive. It feels very authentic, not surprisingly since it is based on Mary Lawson’s own childhood. It was a story I didn’t want to put down and was disappointed when it ended.