“Euphoria: A Novel”
Written by Connie Gault
Published by Coteau Books
Review by Shelley A. Leedahl
$21.00 ISBN 978-1-55050-409-5
It’s no surprise that Connie Gault’s historical novel, “Euphoria: A Novel,” was shortlisted for the 2009 Book of the Year (Saskatchewan Book Awards). With Coteau’s release of “Euphoria,” Gault’s secured her place as one of Saskatchewan’s most talented writers.
The structuring of time and place is especially admirable in this novel. The story itself is what’s sometimes referred to as a quiet novel; the focus is on character development rather than a dramatic plot (though the aftermath of the Regina “cyclone” of 1912 does figure prominently).
The author begins with two central characters – Gladdie and Orillia – and as the story progresses and secrets are scraped away, she simultaneously introduces new characters and illumines the lives of those we’ve already met by teasing out the past.
The initial setting is a Toronto boarding house, and the year is 1891. An illegitimate baby’s born in the house, and immediately after, her teenaged mother “walk[s] off the wharf into Lake Ontario.” Gladdie McConnell, a young employee at the house, is deeply affected by this tragedy, and she’s so concerned with the orphan’s future, she makes it her life’s (other) work to be the child’s surreptitious guardian.
Much of the novel concerns the residents of a Regina boarding house, post-cyclone. Aside from the central figures, there’s Mr. Best, who’s writing a novel about a boarding house; and young Susan, a cyclone survivor found “sitting on the roof of a new Ford automobile …”
“Euphoria” is a finely researched document about how unmarried women could and did live during a certain period in Canadian history. Gault’s nominations are earned.
This book is available at your local bookstore or online at www.skbooks.com
These reviews are provided by the Saskatchewan Publishers Group.
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