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laurieb9's review
4.0
As someone who now calls Dartmouth Nova Scotia home, I honestly believe that no one writes Dartmouth as well as Elaine McCluskey writes Dartmouth. She reads like Dartmouth royalty writing about their kingdom. McCluskey is sharply observant, and her character descriptions feel so familiar yet fresh. One thing is for sure, she knows how Nova Scotians live and bleed. This is a novel about Dartmouth, about messy, dysfunctional families, about grief, and about living in giant shadows.
This novel focuses on Harriet, who recently lost her job, is dealing with her father, secrets, and the loss of herself. We open with a small-town mystery: the disappearance of Harriet’s wayward cousin Graham, last seen riding away on his bicycle with a tuna head in his basket from a wharf in small town Nova Scotia. Harriet, a former photojournalist, is trying to see if she can put any pieces together amid her own family secrets and her own slight falling apart. We meet her larger than life, narcissistic father, a former beloved broadcaster, who in his own selfish ways had recently been trying to “help” Graham, mostly because he is bored in retirement and needs someone to boss around. McCluskey’s writing is sharp and widely observant on the strangeness of people, those on the outskirts of society and those in her own family. Her insightful quips on her own parents and upbringing often stopped me in my tracks: “when a parent is critical of strangers, it distorts your thinking.”
The story and writing in The Gift Child is jumpy and twisty, with an unreliable narrator, and it feels sometimes like falling into a strange fever dream but a good fever dream. We meet all kinds of peculiar characters and petty criminals, undercover agents, and rich Americans buying pretentious houses in Nova Scotia. The novel is a reflection on memory, family and the absurdity of the human race. Oh, and somehow this is all connected to UFO incidents and Shag Harbour? Peppered throughout the story are some interesting facts about famous Nova Scotians including Brad Marchand and Sidney Crosby, among others. One thing is for sure, Elaine McClusky captures the goofy spirit of Nova Scotians with precision, charm, and wit. This novel is sure to please.
This novel focuses on Harriet, who recently lost her job, is dealing with her father, secrets, and the loss of herself. We open with a small-town mystery: the disappearance of Harriet’s wayward cousin Graham, last seen riding away on his bicycle with a tuna head in his basket from a wharf in small town Nova Scotia. Harriet, a former photojournalist, is trying to see if she can put any pieces together amid her own family secrets and her own slight falling apart. We meet her larger than life, narcissistic father, a former beloved broadcaster, who in his own selfish ways had recently been trying to “help” Graham, mostly because he is bored in retirement and needs someone to boss around. McCluskey’s writing is sharp and widely observant on the strangeness of people, those on the outskirts of society and those in her own family. Her insightful quips on her own parents and upbringing often stopped me in my tracks: “when a parent is critical of strangers, it distorts your thinking.”
The story and writing in The Gift Child is jumpy and twisty, with an unreliable narrator, and it feels sometimes like falling into a strange fever dream but a good fever dream. We meet all kinds of peculiar characters and petty criminals, undercover agents, and rich Americans buying pretentious houses in Nova Scotia. The novel is a reflection on memory, family and the absurdity of the human race. Oh, and somehow this is all connected to UFO incidents and Shag Harbour? Peppered throughout the story are some interesting facts about famous Nova Scotians including Brad Marchand and Sidney Crosby, among others. One thing is for sure, Elaine McClusky captures the goofy spirit of Nova Scotians with precision, charm, and wit. This novel is sure to please.
katiecanreid's review
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
alisonburnis's review
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Harriet is writing a memoir, about her father Stan, a minor celebrity: a retired TV anchor. But it’s tied up in the disappearance of her cousin Graham, and so Harriet sets out to explore her father’s life, Graham’s disappearance, and her own life, uncovering family secrets and painful truths.
The Gift Child is wonderfully Nova Scotian - Dartmouth as a setting, the different parts of Halifax, and a small fishing village where Harriet’s cousins live. It’s funny and raw, but also sly. McCluskey frames the story as Harriet writing a memoir after being part of a writing class. Harriet revises as she goes along, inserting scenes that could have happened, revealing details long after a scene and changing everything you knew about it. She’s a consciously unreliable narrator, and it’s fun to read. How lovely it was to read this in my Haligonian backyard.
The Gift Child is wonderfully Nova Scotian - Dartmouth as a setting, the different parts of Halifax, and a small fishing village where Harriet’s cousins live. It’s funny and raw, but also sly. McCluskey frames the story as Harriet writing a memoir after being part of a writing class. Harriet revises as she goes along, inserting scenes that could have happened, revealing details long after a scene and changing everything you knew about it. She’s a consciously unreliable narrator, and it’s fun to read. How lovely it was to read this in my Haligonian backyard.