Sandie K. (sandiek) reviewed on + 114 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
In 1779 Calum MacDonald set said in exile from the Highlands of Scotland with his wife and twelve children, along with the dog that would not be left behind and swam after the departing boat. After a catastrophic crossing he landed in the New World at Cape Breton, by which time he had become a widower and a grandfather.
Two hundred years later, another MacDonald tells his story of coming of age in that same bleakly beautiful Cape Breton landscpe. Alexander is orphaned by a cruel accident on the ice, and his yearning for connection with family produces two luminous narrative strands: a summer spent in the mines with his wild older brothers that ends in murder and, much later, his tender care for one of those brothers, now ailing. As a child, Alexander learned from his grandmother to, "always look after your blood." But blood and history are all but inescapable for the MacDonalds. The brothers still speak Gailic to each other; legends lurk at the edge of the simplest conversation; language and music are themselves links to a heroic past.
By turns epic and intimate, this is astonishing storytelling, informed by tradition and perfected by an exceptional craftsman.
Two hundred years later, another MacDonald tells his story of coming of age in that same bleakly beautiful Cape Breton landscpe. Alexander is orphaned by a cruel accident on the ice, and his yearning for connection with family produces two luminous narrative strands: a summer spent in the mines with his wild older brothers that ends in murder and, much later, his tender care for one of those brothers, now ailing. As a child, Alexander learned from his grandmother to, "always look after your blood." But blood and history are all but inescapable for the MacDonalds. The brothers still speak Gailic to each other; legends lurk at the edge of the simplest conversation; language and music are themselves links to a heroic past.
By turns epic and intimate, this is astonishing storytelling, informed by tradition and perfected by an exceptional craftsman.
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