The Interpreter of Silences

by Jean McNeil

Book by McNeil, Jean

Genres: Fiction, Canada

415 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Jean McNeil is the author of ten books including four novels and a collection of short fiction. Her work has been short-listed for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction, the Journey Prize, and she has won the Prism International prize for short fiction and subsequently for narrative non-fiction. She is the co-director of the Masters in Prose Fiction at the University of East Anglia and lives in London, England.

Reviews

[Susan Maldrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book,as a Nova Scotian I can relate to Jean McNeil description of the landscape and characters. Like the landscape of Cape Breton her characters are sharp, colorful and honed by nature.
"Life is a never ending loop"-- grief, loss and the bonds of loved ones are timeless themes of the book in a world where nothing is black and white. Beautiful language that left vivid images in my mind, this is a book I would reccomend to anyone who enjoys a non-sugary read.

[Stephanie Carne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had been sitting on my shelf for years. I thought it was very well written and very poetically written. The whole book has a dream like quality and sometimes you have a hard time figuring out if what you're reading is actually happening or if its a thought in one of the character's heads. I wish the ending had been tied up a little 'nicer' but I guess the author wanted to leave us thinking messiness would continue. I liked the way the author brought real world events into the narrative. I thought her descriptions of Nova Scotia were good:

"The road to Clam Harbour is a ribbon of frost-shattered asphalt bleached by the sun to an attractive light denim. It cuts through a black corridor of spruce to open onto shimmering fingers of lake."

And:
"It is early May and the last of the old ice is unlocking its fists. The thawing ground is strewn with survivors of the yearly permafrost: a Baxter's Chocolate Milk carton, its brown swish bled to yellow, a couple of pennies hollowing the ground in perfect circles, carpets of sodden pine needles, their stale menthol scent. It was hard to believe that one day soon this unlovely spring would become, almost overnight, a hesitant yearning toward summer."

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whew. Sort of a hard and unforgiving book. No easy solutions or feel-good moments. With a spare, thoughtful beauty, though, much like the eastern Canadian landscape in which it takes place.

[Ann Tonks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started to read McNeil’s book on return from Canada in 2018 but found the writing somewhat excessive. It’s ultimately about two affairs (mother and daughter) but I was more interested (and more convinced) by the descriptions of the country….until I reached one line which captured my irritation with the book:

“Below, the roar of the sea, the pale tourmaline of waves split open by rocks.” (309)

I’m always on the search for words to describe the ocean so I immediately looked up tourmaline. But it’s a complete con. Tourmaline comes in every possible colour including multi-coloured stones like watermelon. So what colour could the author possibly mean? Who knows. And I felt the same way about many of the internalised descriptions of the feelings of the characters.

However, I did love being back in the world of Bras d'or once again.

[Mark Cofta · Rating 3 out of 5]

An engrossing novel about a woman, Eve, returning to her childhood home in Canada's remote and desolate Cape Breton and her eel-fishing father. A romance flares with a summer neighbor, whose experiences researching the Rwandan genocide take up large portions of the story. The past and the present collide for both of them. The ending feels rushed to me, particularly a death in the main character's family, but I like how McNeil delves into the unique forces that shape Eve's point of view.

[Ann Birdgenaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Difficult read but well worth the effort. Set in Canada's harsh Maritimes, Cape Breton, and tells a parallel story of Eve, who comes back home to care for her ailing father and the tragic past life of her deceased mother. McNeil writes poetically about what the heart wants.