CLARA CALLAN
by Richard B. Wright
As most of my family know, I have made it my goal since moving to Canada almost three years ago, to read more Canadian fiction. I like getting a sense of the country’s history without actually having to read a history book. So I was excited to receive Clara Callan, a winner of the Governor Generals Award, for Christmas this year.
Set in the 1930s and 40s, the book is written as a collection of diary entries and letters to and from Clara Callan, a single woman in her thirties living in rural Ontario. Her younger sister has moved to New York City to pursue a career in radio and finds success, becoming quite a star. But Clara stays in her little town, teaching school and feeding her coal furnace until events (that I won't ruin here) force her to take action and travel outside her normal path.
What makes this narrative unique are the tone and pace of the prose. Clara is an supremely composed, even-keeled and clear-headed woman and incredibly, that doesn’t change in her personal diary writing, even after experiencing a trauma. Part of me wants to blame the male author, for how could he possibly understand the psychology and inner thoughts of a woman in these situations? However, as I settled into the book's pace and flow, I found instead that the composedness of the protagonist ended up illuminating her character, and made the book feel truly ofher. (Lily)
