Angel Walk

by Katherine Govier

At eighty-five, Cory Ditchburn has finally agreed to a retrospective of her art. For years she had refused, afraid that any summing up of her life's work would mean she'd never work again. But now vanity has won out - vanity and the need to see it all one more time.

As she sorts through her photographs with Tyke, the son she abandoned for her lover and for World War II, each image projects Cory into one of the split-seconds that have strung themselves together as her life. Her pictures give her back the story of her past - from her beginnings in Pointe au Baril, Ontario, a place of rocky islands and forests; to her days in London, England, where she honed her skills as a photographer and met the great love of her life; to war-ravaged Europe where she worked as a war correspondent for Lord Beaverbrook, travelling with the ranks of soldiers, earning fame as "the girl photographer"; to her self-imposed exile at a fishing cabin in Safe Harbour.

Together, Cory and Tyke retrace the dramatic and sometimes painful path that has led them to the present. Mother and son reclaim each other, and relive an extraordinary woman's life.

Genres: Fiction, Canada, Historical Fiction

576 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Katherine Govier is the author of eleven novels, three short story collections, and a collection of nursery rhymes. Her most recent novel is The Three Sisters Bar and Hotel (HarperAvenue). Here previous novel, The Ghost Brush (published in the US as The Printmaker's Daughter), is about the daughter of the famous Japanese printmaker, Hokusai, creator of The Great Wave. Her novel Creation, about John James Audubon in Labrador, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year in 2003.

Katherine's fiction and non-fiction has appeared in the United Kingdom, the United States, and throughout the Commonwealth, and in translation in Holland, Italy, Turkey, Spain, Japan, Romania, Latvia and Slovenia. She is the winner of Canada's Marian Engel Award for a woman writer (1997) and the Toronto Book Award (1992). Creation was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year in 2003.

Katherine has been instrumental in establishing three innovative writing programs. In 1989, with teacher Trevor Owen, she helped found Writers in Electronic Residence. In 2011 she founded The Shoe Project, a writing workshop for immigrant and refugee women. She continues as the Chair of its Board of Directors. In 2019 Katherine was made a member of the Order of Canada.

She has edited two collections of travel essays, Solo: Writers on Pilgrimage and WIthout a Guide.

Reviews

[Ruthie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Govier - one of my favorite authors. Amazing character development, sense of place, descriptions, dialogue....just lovely. A tad long, but worth the sore wrist!

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this author, but was a bit puzzled by this novel. It goes places over time - rural Ontario, the WWII war theatre, London, back to Toronto. It has so many experiences, which feel authentic, and human - meaning flawed. But, as I reached the end, my annoyance at Cory Ditchburn was eased. It's a fairly big book that I put down a few times, but I'm glad I finished it.

[Paulette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gretchen's book. Female war photographer's fictional history, life and WWII.

[Pietavandyke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that starts in the present day and goes back to WW2. The main character, Cory is a young Canadian woman who loves her life at the edge of the wilderness but feels a need for more adventure. Just as the war is starting she decides to go to London to stay with an aunt who she doesn't know well, but is welcoming. She takes with her a camera and an introduction to Lord Beaverbrook (Max Aitken, a real historical figure). These two connections introduce her to a crowd of interesting artistic people, including a much older man, a married artist, who seduces her. This relationship remains on and off throughout her life. She is flattered by his attention and takes him on as her artistic teacher even though he demeans her chosen field of photography. They carry on an affair under the nose of his wife, who Cory considers to be a friend. I found this relationship to be difficult to understand particularly how she put up with his abuse - in exchange for his attention and for the sex? Concurrently, she develops an ambition to be a front line war photographer and uses her connection to Max Aitken (a newspaper publisher) to get an assignment. Her account of her war experiences is quite gripping and shows her courage - literally under fire. She forms a friendship with a fellow reporter but she withholds her feelings given the precariousness of her situation. Early in her relationship with the artist she falls pregnant and goes back to Canada to have the baby. When he is 3-4 years old she leaves him with trusted neighbours and goes back to embark on her war photography. She travels back and forth from Canada several times and always checks in with her aging lover and each time they end up back in bed. There is not much detail about her later life, and we have now idea about how she supported herself, but her relationship with her son appears to stay strong and at the end of her life her son is organizing a retrospective of her photos.
I gave it four stars because I think it was well researched - particularly the war settings - and is well written. My reservations about the relationship remained, but when I thought about people that I know I was reminded that many of us show poor judgement in our early romantic relationships. I liked that it showed the complexity of her life - how a woman in her 20s can make poor choices, but still shows extraordinary courage on the war front, and also in dealing with her life as a single parent.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katherine Govier’s “Angel Walk” has been on my bookshelf for a dozen years, so I decided it was time for a second reading. At 560 pages it is a hefty read, but still worth the effort.

“Angel Walk” is the story of Corinne Ditchburn – a strong-willed woman born near Parry Sound, Ontario who carves out a career for herself as a professional photographer. She travels to England as a young woman where she meets Albert Bloom – a gifted but self-possessed painter who becomes her lover, mentor and adversary.

Corinne rises to prominence as a war correspondent photographer during WWII. Emotionally scarred by that experience, and her troubled relationship with Bloom, she retreats to her roots, and her son Christopher “Tyke” Ditchburn, to live out her days photographing the Northern Ontario landscape that she always loved.

“Angel Walk” is told looking back as Corinne, now in her eighties, and Tyke prepare a retrospective of her work for a show. It is a tour de force examining both the life of a woman ahead of her time and a life lived against the grain with its rewards and penalties.

[Ronda · Rating 4 out of 5]

WWII female photographer

[Roberta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well eritten story of a woman war photographer's life as she reflects on it with her son.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting wwii history

[Kristine Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story about an independent woman who has to make choices between love, motherhood, career, art and place. I enjoyed the book. Govier creates a very strong and memorable character in Cory Ditchburn. But you might not think so until you get three-quarters of the way through the book. Only at that point does the book move from being a chronological description of her life to a reflection on her choices, her relationships, and more interesting (to me) when she chose stand up for herself or when she allowed herself to be molded and manupilated by others - mainly her lover Albert Bloom. It's also three-quarters of the way through the book that we get any sense of her son Tyke's character - and what makes him tick. His adult life should have been a more constant thread throughout the book. Also considering that Cory is a photographer - very little was written about her and her art (aside from the arguments she would have with Albert re: painting vs. photography). Her attentive detailing of a new art form was what made her novel Creation a more interesting novel.

[MESCA Book Club]

Menu: Strawberries & angel food cake of course! Strawberry champagne for France, cheeses and crackers for the Italy, cracker spread served in beaker for the chemical plant!

Most of us agreed that this author writes beautifully detailed descriptions. The war action provided lessons for all of us, living far in time and space from that kind of fighting.

Most members found the book challenging to read given the relatively slow plot near the beginning and unlikeability of the main character and her lover.

[Shannon Pawliw · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book on many levels. The protagonist was definitely an interesting woman...though I didn't identify with her choice(s) in love interests AT ALL. This made it very difficult to empathize when she was feeling heartbroken. I kept waiting for her to grow out of her fascination with Albert, but it never happened, which made me sad. I enjoyed the reflectiveness of the last half of the book, particularly the glimpses of her relationship with her son. I think I would have liked more of that.

[Elizabeth Martel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange read for me...I didn't like the main character, was disgusted by her attraction to Albert, and the language was altogether too etherial for me...however...for whatever reason..I kept going and enjoyed it much more toward the end. The best part? ...the descriptions of 'my neck of the woods'....the area around Parry Sound, and the life of the locals living there.

[Lorna Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mom gave me this book several years ago and I just got around to reading it. I loved the local references! I really like historical fiction about the Second World War and Cory has become one of my favourites. Her life during the War as a woman and a photographer was so interesting I couldn't put the book down. I wish I had of read it sooner and talked it over with Mom.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful writing, descriptions come alive, WW2 details facinating.