by Mary Lawson
First published 2002
Kate Morrison stands in her childhood home in northern Ontario, watching her partner meet the family she escaped through education. She earned her doctorate in biology and teaches at university, but her success feels hollow. Years ago, when their parents died in a truck collision, her eldest brother Luke sacrificed teachers college to raise Kate and baby Bo. Her brother Matt, a brilliant student who taught Kate to observe damselflies and water beetles at the local ponds, was supposed to be the first Morrison to earn a university degree. Instead, a dramatic event derailed his plans and left him farming the same harsh land their family has worked for generations. Kate carries crushing guilt over the sacrifices her brothers made for her education. Now she must navigate the cultural clash between her academic world and the isolated farming community where marriage choices remain few and winter cold penetrates everything. As Matt's son celebrates his birthday, Kate confronts the memories of one terrible year when tragedy struck another local family and changed everything. She can dissect organisms under a microscope, but understanding her own emotional life proves far more difficult.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, canadian-literature, family-drama, academic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Northern Ontario
Period: 20th Century
294 pages · Hardcover · Knopf Canada