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Canadian Authors - General fiction - |
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Angel Walk |
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 Angel Walk byKatherine Govier Reprinted by Random House Canada (Vintage Books) 567 pages, 2000 ISBN 0679310320 [first published in 1996] Reviewed by Zaheera Jiwaji Read our profile of Katherine Govier and reviews of her other works ANGEL WALK will be remembered as Katherine Govier's epic novel. It has all the elements: a dazzling heroine, illicit love, grand sacrifices, historical backdrop, struggles and triumphs. Yet nothing about this book is formulaic. Be forewarned - once begun, this book will be difficult to put down. Govier begins with the end. At 85, Corinne (Cory) Ditchburn, an acclaimed photographer, concedes to have the Royal Ontario Museum of Art produce a retrospective of her work. To record her work for the curator, she and her son Tyke sort through photographs chronicling her work history. Each photograph sends Cory back to her past, launching a narrative of that period in her life. This technique gives the novel a solid structure, linking together the past with the present. On the eve of World War II, young Cory travels from her rural Ontario home to England. In pursuing her passion for photography, she becomes involved with an artist. Her affair with this much older married man produces her son, Tyke. Yet when the war in Europe begins, she abandons her son and goes to the front as a war correspondent/photographer. With rich historical detail, ANGEL WALK provides a unique perspective of war. It is uniquely seen through the eyes of a woman whose struggle to forge her own identity takes place during a time when women's roles and expectations were rapidly shifting. Govier takes us from Sicily to Normandy to London, from the front to the Liberation, meeting historical figures and recounting the struggles of ordinary soldiers, caught up in extraordinary times. Katherine Govier expertly balances war history with personal history. This book never ceases to be about Cory Ditchburn's life, her journey of self-discovery and ultimately, about her reconciliation with Tyke. It is in many ways, as modern as it is historical. ANGEL WALK is timeless. |
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