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Canadian Authors - General fiction - |
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No Great Mischief |
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 No Great Mischief byAlistair MacLeod McClelland & Stewart 283 Pages, 1999 ISBN 0771055676 Reviewed by Zaheera Jiwaji Winner of the Trillium Prize, April 2000 Read our review of Island by Alistair MacLeod Read our author profile Thirteen must be Alistair MacLeod's lucky number. NO GREAT MISCHIEF, a novel thirteen years in the making, received the thirteenth annual Trillium Prize last month. Yet it is doubtful that luck has had much to do with MacLeod's success. He is often referred to as the writer's writer, but it is clear that MacLeod is at heart a storyteller who writes what a reader longs to read. "As I begin to tell this, it is the golden month of September in Southwestern Ontario..." the novel begins. Once the "little red-haired boy", we meet the adult Alexander MacDonald, as he tells the story of his family. (Is it a coincidence that the narrator shares the same initials as the writer?) MacDonald's ancestor, the heroic Highlander, Calum Ruadh (Calum the Red) leaves Scotland with his family to seek a better life. The journey takes his wife's life, but he reaches the shores of Nova Scotia determined to build a life for his twelve children. The narrative focuses on these early immigrants, weaving Alexander's life story with those of his ancestors. We learn of Alexander's early life when tragedy separates him and his sister from their elder brothers. In time, they re-enter each other's lives, but too much has passed. Alexander's brother, also named Calum, sinks into a life of despair, alcoholism and pain. Meanwhile, Alexander creates for himself a life of material and personal success. The novel steadily moves towards the end, bringing the past and present together. MacLeod understands the pull of the ancient past, and how it enters our present lives. NO GREAT MISCHIEF is a haunting and poetic story of loyalty, family and duty; of how we recreate our family history in our own lives, and how we are forever tied to those people who we seem farthest from. MacLeod creates an enduring landscape with vivid imagery and striking language, summing up this haunting novel admirably in one closing sentence: "All of us are better when we're loved". NO GREAT MISCHIEF will remain with you long after you reach the final page. |
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