ReviewsFICTION | Story writer's strong debut novel The characters in Holley Rubinsky's terrific debut novel are both sinned against and sinning, to varying degrees. The damage they inflict, or have inflicted upon them, frays their most intimate relationships. They struggle with loss and upheaval forced upon them by circumstances; they're humbled by their own weaknesses. There's death and betrayal and retribution, but also a generous measure of levity — all rendered with the polish and verve of a skilled storyteller. The action takes place mostly in the vicinity of Ruth, a fictional town in the B.C. Interior, and follows the interlocking fortunes of an ensemble cast. Mory is a single mother and sometime-prostitute who returns to Ruth, her hometown, after learning she's HIV positive. She's considered mentally deficient by other characters, but she has a kind of feral intelligence and a shrewd instinct for survival, which includes protecting her 11-year-old son, BB. There's also Milee, a troubled 18-year-old whose alcoholic mother has recently died; Bet, who learns that her university-bound daughter, in whom she places all her hopes, has other plans; and Lucinda, who's desperate to salvage her doomed relationship with Gabriel, a charismatic healer who runs the New Age-inspired Centre for Light Awareness. These characters and their situations are all well drawn, but the narrative's main linchpins are two women who come to the isolated area from elsewhere, their lives in disarray. Kathleen and Lenore have both lost their husbands — the former to a massive heart attack, the latter to infidelity. Still reeling from the shock of her husband's death, Kathleen flees her Toronto apartment and comes to stay with her friend Davida and her husband Boris, in a cabin on their property outside Ruth. Her emotional fragility and the undercurrents of strain in the couple's relationship make for a volatile situation. Lenore arrives by way of a West Coast community she nicknames "Perpetual Rain." She's just learned that her husband is leaving her after 30 years of marriage. If she doesn't quite welcome the winds of change, she's at least determined to make them blow her in a favourable direction — even if she's not sure what that might be. She ends up in Ruth, with her brother and (politely hostile) sister-in-law. Lenore is Rubinsky's most wonderful creation, and her escapades furnish the novel with its funniest moments. She's a bit of a bumbler and often blunderingly outspoken, but her heart's in the right place, even if her foot is often in her mouth. As the author puts it, Lenore is "the one trying too hard, struggling with her booming personality, her lack of finesse." Rubinsky is skilled at portraying psychological turmoil as her characters struggle to adapt to big changes, and she has a remarkable compassion for their failings and follies. They often act on their impulses, against their better judgment. Bet, after sending an email she knows she'll regret, reflects wryly, "No doubt another mistake in a day nearly perfect with them." There's some harrowing stuff here, but the novel isn't grim or depressing, perhaps because the characters, however painful their experiences, are still moving forward, figuring out a way to survive. Beyond this point has the texture and complexity of real life, rendered with wisdom, insight and humour. Wit and Wisdom from the Interior REBECCA WIGOD Holley Rubinsky spent eight years writing her novel Beyond This Point (McClelland & Stewart, 291 pages), but if you're anything like me, you'll tear through it in a couple of days. Its portrayals of middle-aged women are brilliantly wise and funny. And at a time when novels set in Vancouver are pouring off the presses, it paints a fine, true picture of life in rural B.C. Rubinsky, who lives in Kaslo, northeast of Nelson, had the West Kootenay in mind when she created the Judith Lake Valley, the town of Ruth and the settlement of Neon Bar. But if you visualize the Okanagan or the Cariboo while reading the novel, that's fine with her. "I wanted it set in a rural, remote place with mountains and water, which could be any place in the Interior of B.C.," Rubinsky, author of two short-story collections and winner of the first Journey Prize, said in an interview this week. Beyond This Point begins in Toronto as a massive heart attack fells Kathleen Elliot's husband, James. Lacking presence of mind, Kathleen dithers while the paramedics do their thing. Before she can collect herself, James is dead and she's a widow. Numbed by this unexpected turn of events, she goes west in search of comfort from old friends. The author, who is in her early 60s, lost her second husband, Yuri Rubinsky, in much the same way. "A lot of it is from my experience," she said of the book's strong opening scene. "I wanted to describe that feeling of shock. There is that odd juxtaposition of the phone ringing, and then running here and running there while your mind is just sliding." After the emotion-charged opening, Rubinsky leaves Kathleen for a while and shows us four other women who are converging on the Judith Lake Valley at turning points in their lives. The liveliest is Lenore Carmichael, a hefty, querulous woman who can sense that other people dislike her. Fuming over the fact that her dentist husband has left her for his young assistant, she slides into a ditch on her way to Ruth. Geese skeined eastward across the sky, high overhead. She heard their distant muttering. She smelled gasoline and tar and juiced weeds and her own unflattering sweat. She tasted blood. She got back in the car, squinted into the rear-view mirror, opened her mouth, and peered in. Lots of silver. Jack the dentist did not believe silver amalgams caused immune disorders. He believed Home Sapiens had become a species of wimps. What we needed was to pull a little rope, haul a little water. Yadda-yadda. The novel's other memorable female characters include Bet Harker, a woman saddled with an infirm husband, a rundown tourist camp, a newly sexually active teenage daughter who rebuffs her attempts at control and twin teenage sons who are clamouring to start a new business. ("Bet thought she hadn't seen the twins so enthusiastic since they learned to aim in the bowl.") Widowed Kathleen meets a man who desires her. And — guess what? — she desires him, too. Mind you, he's her friend's husband and, in Bet's estimation, a "money-grubbing bastard." Still, their attraction points to a new beginning for Kathleen. Rubinsky likes the fact that Kathleen is realistic about her new beau. "She's not a girl having her fantasies of Prince Charming. Testosterone has been released in her system because of the sexual connection they have. It's a lifesaver for a lot of women who have been almost killed."... |
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