FEBRUARY by Lisa Moore (Anansi), 306 pages, $29.92 cloth. Rating: NNNN
I’ve never been truly touched by a Lisa Moore novel. Her prose in previous books seemed to cry out self-consciously, “Notice my taut, gritty style with all the short sentences.”
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But in February, she uses a more varied style to deliver content that’s driven by powerful emotions.
The book opens in late 2008. Helen is still grieving the death of her husband, Cal, lost at sea in 1982 with the rest of the crew on the oil rig Ocean Ranger, while Helen was pregnant with their fourth child.
What could have turned into a maudlin exercise becomes a beautiful testimony to the power of love and the devastation of loss.
Take the fact that the oil company didn’t train the crew to deal with the specific type of emergency that brought the rig down. Moore could have handled this detail with a heavy hand, but doesn’t go to manipulative heights.
She doesn’t have to. Simply giving us Helen’s fantasy of the events – all based on facts she’s learned – keeps the focus where it belongs, on her love for her dead husband.
A subplot featuring her son John coping with a one-week stand’s unwanted pregnancy is a smart ironic device.
Moore’s near-perfect structure keeps the story moving between memory and present-tense mourning, and the Newfoundland setting is evoked with loving detail.
Look for February to make an appearance on all the important prize short lists come fall.
susanc@nowtoronto.com
