Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden

I was supposed to have read Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden for January's Book Club.  I confess to have taken almost three months to finish it.  Now that I'm done, I have mixed feelings.  TBS is the 2008 Giller Prize winner, a prize that has given me such gems as A Fine Balance, Late Nights on Air and The In-Between World of Vikram Lall.  Excellent - and intimidating - company indeed.

As per usual, spoilers abound and I can't help it.  A more cogent reviewer will be able to talk about this book, its high and lows, without ruining plot, but I make no such promises.

Should you read it?  Yes.  Should it be the very next book you pick up?  Probably not - especially if you haven't read those listed above.

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So there's this one driving question in the book for me: What happened to Suzanne?  And while I get caught up in the self-narration of Annie and Will, what compels me to keep reading is the mystery of Suzanne.  For the most part, Boyden unfolds the story in a careful methodical way that reminds me of making fudge: a steady hand, lots of patience, just the right timing.  He answers questions I didn't even realise were being asked: what happened to Will's family? Who is Gordon? Why does Annie leave NYC?  He stirs and stirs and I kept watching, anticipating, salivating.  Sadly, like many attempts at fudge, his last spin is too quick and the pot/plot falls flat.  What did happen to Suzanne?  I still don't know.  And the last two chapters?  They felt rushed, cobbled and completely disjointed from the rest of the text.

I still liked the book and am not bitter about having taken the time to read it; I just wish I had more to show for it.  Though, I do hear that Boyden's first book, Three Day Road, is actually a better novel, I think I'll wait a while before revisiting the Ojibway Bird family.