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LETTERS FOR MAGDALENA
343 pages, Paperback
Published March 24, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 27, 2026
This is a very fine piece of work. The author tells the story in a standard chronological narrative and the chief character John is well drawn. He is somewhat of a superman - has many talents and skills beyond being a superb country butcher - he is also an obstetrician( or midwife but he repairs a torn vagina which is not within the skills of a midwife), he is an auto mechanic but only learned to drive after he got to Canada and picked up driving very quickly, farmer, traveling salesman, soldier (or morellikely a guerilla) . But you read this and are convinced that he has the talent and skills to do all these things, The only weakness is his shooting skill - can’t hit the side of a barn. I also am impressed with his celibacy while traveling around - despite many opportunities which tempt him to cheat on Magdalena - he stays true to his wife which is laudable but certainly not typical of any modern fiction it seems to me.
He also has phenomenal luck - many crises in the narrative are resolved with an angel arriving on the scene - e.g. smuggling - rum-running, being hijacked by other crooks, being run out of town, riding the rails and not getting caught. His friend Konrad appears out of the blue and Michael too etc.
The author incorporates almost every significant event in Canada in the first half of the 20th century - WW1, 20’s boom with prohibition and the fortunes made by bootleggers (Sam Bronfman) , stock market crash, Al Capone, settling the west, impact of European settlement on the indigenous peoples. Somehow he gets Custer and Little Big Horn into the story. John of course is enlightened since he took up with Michael (Running Bull) which would not have been done by the majority of the settlers. All of this reminded me of Forrest Gump.
Some of the writing is a bit purple - a lot of metaphors, particularly when describing the surroundings - vista, forests, etc. - but otherwise I thought that the narrative was econonmical and the story flowed well. I did not find any dead segments which I commonly find with some authors who stall the narrative for no apparent reason. The reader is stimulated to keep on going to find out what the next adventure would be . I found it to be a real page turner!
I also particularly liked the ambiguity of whether this was entirely fictional ( how much of the story of the author's grandfather really happened ) and how much was embellished - fabricated.
All in all, a great read.
He also has phenomenal luck - many crises in the narrative are resolved with an angel arriving on the scene - e.g. smuggling - rum-running, being hijacked by other crooks, being run out of town, riding the rails and not getting caught. His friend Konrad appears out of the blue and Michael too etc.
The author incorporates almost every significant event in Canada in the first half of the 20th century - WW1, 20’s boom with prohibition and the fortunes made by bootleggers (Sam Bronfman) , stock market crash, Al Capone, settling the west, impact of European settlement on the indigenous peoples. Somehow he gets Custer and Little Big Horn into the story. John of course is enlightened since he took up with Michael (Running Bull) which would not have been done by the majority of the settlers. All of this reminded me of Forrest Gump.
Some of the writing is a bit purple - a lot of metaphors, particularly when describing the surroundings - vista, forests, etc. - but otherwise I thought that the narrative was econonmical and the story flowed well. I did not find any dead segments which I commonly find with some authors who stall the narrative for no apparent reason. The reader is stimulated to keep on going to find out what the next adventure would be . I found it to be a real page turner!
I also particularly liked the ambiguity of whether this was entirely fictional ( how much of the story of the author's grandfather really happened ) and how much was embellished - fabricated.
All in all, a great read.
May 13, 2026
Very cool piece of family history
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews