Heavy rain is a comin’,
or so the weather types tell us.
The Canadiens, my team, have named a new Captain.
The had been captain less for more than a season.
The new captain is, Brian Gionta,
an experienced and plucky player.
Good choice.
Best of luck to him, it’s a tough gig.
I just finished a book I liked a great deal.
It’s been a quiet week at the bookstore,
lots of time to read.
Anyway, the book is,
Burning Ground by Pearl Luke.
It is her first novel and quite an achievement.
It won the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for Best First Book.
Sounds like a big deal to me,
and well deserved.
A complex and well written novel.
Percy, the protagonist spends each summer in the woods in a tower,
watching for fires.
An important job, forest fires are serious business.
Percy, is a smart and likable character.
She comes from a slightly dysfunctional family,
and for many years has had a slightly dysfunctional friendship/ romance,
with her best friend, Marlea.
Marlea can’t seem to commit or,
is Percy the one that has commitment issues?
The summer will bring a flirtation with Gilmore a fellow fire watcher.
I hate to give too much away.
The novel has many flashback scenes and a few surprises.
I learned a few things.
About underground fires and the whole process of searching for and putting out fires.
I have a new found respect for,
rangers and the people who watch over our precious lands.
I loved the way the novel dealt with the nature of sexual identity,
and the fear of love and commitment.
Those who restrain desire ,do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained-William Blake The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.
Those who restrain desire. The way she has. Hasn’t she?
For even while seeming to give, hasn’t she held back,
wanting more, settling for less , because she is afraid to face her own fear
that perhaps no one will love her the way she wants to be loved.
An interesting, thoughtful and complex novel.
Well worth the read.
Pearl Luke is a western Canadian writer,
whose work deserves consideration.
Well girls,
Later
BB