Crow Lake

Wonderful debut novel. I was immediately drawn into this family's story and it all felt so very REAL to me, and so moving. The ending was so perfect and a stunning "reveal" of a LIFETIME of the consequences of projecting your own personal feelings onto someone else, someone you love with all your heart.

The story is very well told and provides excellent characters. At times, the situations appear to take place further back in history than they are meant to, but I believe that lends a hand in propelling the story. This is a bit of a downer book. It gives a lot in the way of human interactions, but this is not a "they live happily ever after" book. Although the story does come to a peaceable ending. I would recommend it to others.

I read this book with a sense that I was sharing an experience with its characters. There was not one character that I could not relate to, and although it was not what some people would call a cliff-hanger, I couldn't put it down. Having read some of the previous reviews, I am puzzled and surprised to find so many of them found it "boring, slow, disjointed", etc. Apparently, readers experience a book very differently. Perhaps it is our expectations that are at fault. I had none when I picked the book up to read, and so was not disappointed. I found it to be well written, and the characters believable. When I was finished, I was sorry that I was. That said, the only other thing I can say about the book is that I found the simple humanity of it absolutely staggering. If you wish to visit the human soul, in all its chiaroscuro; the fallibility and flaws, the goodness and compassion, the light and the darkness, read the book.

Mary Lawson's debut novel, Crow lake, is by far one of the best books I have ever read. When I started reading, I could not put the book down. I was automatically drawn into the story, as if it were my own. It is about four kids and their struggle to survive after their parents die in car accident. It takes place in Northern Ontario, in a small farming community called Crow Lake. The story is narrated by Kate Morrison, as a devastated 7 year old, and a 27 yaer old zoology professor at a university in Toronto. Kate reveals her life story, along with those of her three siblings, Luke, Matt, and Bo. They make compromises and delay their indivual dreams in order to stay together, as what was once a family. Kate feels a tremendous amount of guilt, simply because her older brother's gave their dreams up in order to raise her and Bo, the way their parents would have wanted it. She hardly ever sees or talks to the three, until she receives an invitation from Matt's son. Now she is forced to revisit her childhood and those haunting memories of Crow Lake. Kate describes Crow Lake as somewhat of an isolated world. The neighbors, the Pyes are known as a very disturbed family. They are relentlessly violent, and somewhat infectious. It seemed to be passed on throughout the generations of the family, and could not be ignored. Eventually the worlds of the two collide in unexpected ways. Lawson has an immense talent for story, giving just enough along the way, to keep you going, but distarcting you from what is really happening and without giving too much away. She pulled me into the story, and kept me there and I am still there. Her descriptions are rich, without being mind numbing, and allows you to enjoy it. You definately will not struggle to finish this book; you will want to read it over and over!

Crow Lake was the first book that I have read by Mary Lawson -- It makes me want to read more of her novels!! We learn that "Kate" -- an orphaned child - is determined to get somewhere in life -- out of crow lake....and when she does she feels sorry for her siblings. She rarely sees or talks about them...until her closest sibling, Matt, sends her an invitation to come to crow lake.As the story takes us through the journey of a small town, through Kate's eyes, we are able to see some of the wonders of life that Kate is not able to see. Her brother Matt was her first and best teacher who explained so many of the little wonders of the natural world. We wonder how Kate can see the tiniest things under a microscope while she has difficulty seeing clearly the larger issues that are also a part of our lives. And right in front of her face. We all live a different reality and define our success. I was touched by the realistic and utter sincerity of people's different ideas of what the "real world" is!! Kate is proud of her more formal success, and pities her brother Matt who she feels missed out...Here I am reminded: No two children are born into the same family.We all have different dreams.....some say they lie somewhere over the rainbow....some believe there is no place like home.And as for success, well...that is just a word -- we all define it differently. But,what's more important is that we are happy with our own achievements.

Mary Lawson's Crow Lake is a wonderful novel, a work that will blow away all expectations of what it really is all about. The novel, which is narrated by Kate, a scientist in her late twenties, begins with the death of both of Kate's parents in a car accident, an accident which leaves Kate and her three siblings orphans. I know what you are thinking--sounds like Oprah, sounds predictable, we see where this is going. Well, it's none of those things and it will take you some place else. Lawson delves into the depths of family relationships, of familial expectations and love. One of the things that makes this book different is Kate's narrative style. We follow the story of what happened after her parents were killed, as that story somehow collides with her present story. She has been invited back to Crow Lake, doesn't know if she can handle it, doesn't know if she should take her current boyfriend. Her current predicaments are all caused by what happened to her family so many years ago and it's fascinating and thought-provoking. Mary Lawson has given us a terrific novel, an engaging read. Highly recommended.