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The Heaviness of Things That Float
Jennifer Manuel skilfully depicts the lonely world of Bernadette, a woman who has spent the last forty years living alone on the periphery of a remote West Coast First Nations reserve, serving as a nurse for the community. This is a place where truth and myth are deeply intertwined and stories are “like organisms all their own, life upon life, the way moss grows around poplar trunks and barnacles atop crab shells, the way golden chanterelles spring from hemlock needles. They spread in the cove with the kelp and the eelgrass, and in the rainforest with the lichen, the cedars, the swordferns. They pelt down inside raindrops, erode thick slabs of driftwood, puddle the old logging road that these days led to nowhere.”
Only weeks from retirement, Bernadette finds herself unsettled, with no immediate family of her own—how does she fit into the world? Her fears are complicated by the role she has played within their community: a keeper of secrets in a place “too small for secrets.” And then a shocking announcement crackles over the VHF radio of the remote medical outpost: Chase Charlie, the young man that Bernadette loves like a son, is missing. The community is thrown into upheaval, and with the surface broken, raw dysfunction, pain and truths float to the light.
Only weeks from retirement, Bernadette finds herself unsettled, with no immediate family of her own—how does she fit into the world? Her fears are complicated by the role she has played within their community: a keeper of secrets in a place “too small for secrets.” And then a shocking announcement crackles over the VHF radio of the remote medical outpost: Chase Charlie, the young man that Bernadette loves like a son, is missing. The community is thrown into upheaval, and with the surface broken, raw dysfunction, pain and truths float to the light.
288 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2016
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2013 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 152 reviews
May 16, 2016
Read this in 24 hours. It's the type of book you will think about for a long time after you have put the book down. Loved it.
May 30, 2016
When you read a first novel like this one, you just think wow. Jennifer Manuel has a real gift for description, for characters, and for unveiling an interesting story one layer at a time. Being Canadian, I was naturally interested in her portrayal of our indigenous people, which was very well done. All her characters were genuine individuals, with a range of human talents and failings. The only thing I questioned, and not enough to reduce my five-star rating, was why Bernadette chose that life for herself. Her isolation and loneliness seemed almost unbearable. Hopefully when my book club discusses this it will become more clear to me.
June 18, 2018
3.5 stars really
The second from my #20BooksofSummer list! A very strong opening, and a strong and emotional ending, it was the middle that I had a few struggles with - repetitiveness? or maybe the same story spinning around, not moving forward? I did really enjoy, there were many beautiful and poignant moments inside. Heartfelt and perhaps a melancholic ending meant a very good ending to Bernadette's story. I'd recommend for those seeking good Canadian literature.
The second from my #20BooksofSummer list! A very strong opening, and a strong and emotional ending, it was the middle that I had a few struggles with - repetitiveness? or maybe the same story spinning around, not moving forward? I did really enjoy, there were many beautiful and poignant moments inside. Heartfelt and perhaps a melancholic ending meant a very good ending to Bernadette's story. I'd recommend for those seeking good Canadian literature.
March 11, 2017
Simply put, this is one of the best books I've ever read. Perhaps it resonated more than it might have at some earlier stage in my life because I've lived on the west coast of Vancouver Island for nine years now, and I read the book on little San Rafael Island overlooking Yuquot on Nootka Island, where only one family remains. (It's certainly the first time I've seen the handful of words we use here - chumiss, klecko, chuu, kakawin, puui - in print.) I've flown over the island named Toomista in the book and wondered why those houses behind the sandy beach sat empty.
Jennifer Manuel does not set a foot wrong. We are quickly inside the mind and thoughts of Bernadette, her main character, our narrator. While there's no doubt that she's firmly entrenched as part of the community after 40 years in residence as the outpost nurse, prickles of doubt arise as to whether we can trust her interpretation of her place within the community. I cringed a little at her certainty that those four decades and the knowledge and intimacies involved in being their nurse made her part of this extended First Nations family. And sure enough, as her time on the Tawakin Reserve is coming to an end, self-doubt and confrontation forces her to question her real place amongst the people she has spent her adult life with.
While dealing with this inner turmoil the young man she is closest to suddenly disappears, his fishing boat left in a protected anchorage. This mystery drives the book as Bernadette conducts her own searches, seeks out the man's mother, living apart from and estranged from the community, and continues to sift through her memories of the past looking for clues and explanations and understanding.
While we begin at the end of Bernadette's 40 years on Tawakin, the arc of her time there is revealed through her memories. Most are positive but there has been heartbreak, betrayal and tragedy as well. She has earned her position of trust, her friendships but, perhaps because of her proximity, she is blinkered, unable or unwilling to see that there are two solitudes and that she will always be part of the one not resident on the reserve. The two can overlap, embrace even, but they will not be one anytime soon.
This may be Bernie's flaw but it's an understandable one and she is a good person, a narrator you're happy to spend time with, and within, for almost 300 pages. And, as with any good mystery, we are free to question her perspective, to come up with our own theories, until all, or at least most, is revealed at the end.
The writing is so strong that The Heaviness of Things That Float has the best qualities of documentary, as if a skilled memoirist had written of her time in this place, to the point that Tawakin becomes real and you're tempted to get on the Uchuck, or the Pacific Sojourn, and visit and see if Patty and Hannah are doing better, if Nan Lily is still alive.. But, of course, 'they' are not there. This is fiction done so well that we think it's true, and it has the drama, the confrontations and tensions, the conflicts in need of resolution, that mark the best fiction.
And the characters: Bernie, at retirement, wondering whether this was a life well lived, Chase, the son she never had, Miranda, his mother, mad with grief or, possibly, just mad, Frank, Bernie's one-time love and, yes, Chase's father... yes, it's complicated, as they say. Deliciously so.
Let the rain, or, this winter, perhaps the snow, fall, let the fog roll in if it desires, let the clouds creep down the mountains, and reflect on the ocean's surface until all the world is grey with a smudge of green forest and throw another log on the fire, a blanket on your knees, and spend your day with this book. That you will know more about our First Nations at the end of it is a bonus. That you will experience the emotional highs and lows, the pleasures, that only a good book can give you, is guaranteed.
Jennifer Manuel does not set a foot wrong. We are quickly inside the mind and thoughts of Bernadette, her main character, our narrator. While there's no doubt that she's firmly entrenched as part of the community after 40 years in residence as the outpost nurse, prickles of doubt arise as to whether we can trust her interpretation of her place within the community. I cringed a little at her certainty that those four decades and the knowledge and intimacies involved in being their nurse made her part of this extended First Nations family. And sure enough, as her time on the Tawakin Reserve is coming to an end, self-doubt and confrontation forces her to question her real place amongst the people she has spent her adult life with.
While dealing with this inner turmoil the young man she is closest to suddenly disappears, his fishing boat left in a protected anchorage. This mystery drives the book as Bernadette conducts her own searches, seeks out the man's mother, living apart from and estranged from the community, and continues to sift through her memories of the past looking for clues and explanations and understanding.
While we begin at the end of Bernadette's 40 years on Tawakin, the arc of her time there is revealed through her memories. Most are positive but there has been heartbreak, betrayal and tragedy as well. She has earned her position of trust, her friendships but, perhaps because of her proximity, she is blinkered, unable or unwilling to see that there are two solitudes and that she will always be part of the one not resident on the reserve. The two can overlap, embrace even, but they will not be one anytime soon.
This may be Bernie's flaw but it's an understandable one and she is a good person, a narrator you're happy to spend time with, and within, for almost 300 pages. And, as with any good mystery, we are free to question her perspective, to come up with our own theories, until all, or at least most, is revealed at the end.
The writing is so strong that The Heaviness of Things That Float has the best qualities of documentary, as if a skilled memoirist had written of her time in this place, to the point that Tawakin becomes real and you're tempted to get on the Uchuck, or the Pacific Sojourn, and visit and see if Patty and Hannah are doing better, if Nan Lily is still alive.. But, of course, 'they' are not there. This is fiction done so well that we think it's true, and it has the drama, the confrontations and tensions, the conflicts in need of resolution, that mark the best fiction.
And the characters: Bernie, at retirement, wondering whether this was a life well lived, Chase, the son she never had, Miranda, his mother, mad with grief or, possibly, just mad, Frank, Bernie's one-time love and, yes, Chase's father... yes, it's complicated, as they say. Deliciously so.
Let the rain, or, this winter, perhaps the snow, fall, let the fog roll in if it desires, let the clouds creep down the mountains, and reflect on the ocean's surface until all the world is grey with a smudge of green forest and throw another log on the fire, a blanket on your knees, and spend your day with this book. That you will know more about our First Nations at the end of it is a bonus. That you will experience the emotional highs and lows, the pleasures, that only a good book can give you, is guaranteed.
June 11, 2016
Although this isn't a perfect book (what book is?), it's a book well worth reading. It's moving, and does a good job of exploring the fault-lines between cultures. The main character is complicated and difficult and, most importantly, interesting. Although at times the author doesn't seem to trust her ability to tell this story, and over-explains, where a lighter touch might have been more effective, for a first novel is far more accomplished than most.
The relationship between whites and Indigenous people is often fraught, and who gets to tell the story is debatable. Manuel bravely walks into the fray and, as someone who has lived in Indigenous communities for decades, she is more qualified than most white people. (I'm of mixed Indigenous/European heritage and I don't feel comfortable tackling it!) Here, her focus is on what blind spots non-Indigenous people have, how and why humans delude themselves. It's thought-provoking, and an important part of the conversation on reconciliation in Canada.
I hope people will read this book. I hope they will talk about how they respond to it.
The relationship between whites and Indigenous people is often fraught, and who gets to tell the story is debatable. Manuel bravely walks into the fray and, as someone who has lived in Indigenous communities for decades, she is more qualified than most white people. (I'm of mixed Indigenous/European heritage and I don't feel comfortable tackling it!) Here, her focus is on what blind spots non-Indigenous people have, how and why humans delude themselves. It's thought-provoking, and an important part of the conversation on reconciliation in Canada.
I hope people will read this book. I hope they will talk about how they respond to it.
April 7, 2016
The author's knowledge and experience of life on a First Nations reserve on the West Coast live in this book. It is the story of a poignant and painful realization of Bernadette, a nurse on the reserve, as she is about to retire after 40 years living in the community. The disappearance of Chase Charlie, the young man who Bernadette has loved as a son throws her and the community into upheaval. Particularly the last chapters as the story moves to the climax are gripping and immersive. This book is honest and beautiful and it hurts.
December 24, 2022
This was a beautiful book.
A nurse spent 40 years in a fictional indigenous community on Vancouver Island. As she prepares for retirement, she reflects on her time with the community, searches for a missing man, and orients the incoming nurse to their work. A truly beautiful tale, with lots of local references which made reading it feel like home.
A nurse spent 40 years in a fictional indigenous community on Vancouver Island. As she prepares for retirement, she reflects on her time with the community, searches for a missing man, and orients the incoming nurse to their work. A truly beautiful tale, with lots of local references which made reading it feel like home.
June 2, 2016
This book moved me on so many levels. First, there is well crafted story about Bernadette a nurse, retiring after 40 yrs. at a remote outpost near a reserve. She has been friend, enemy, confidant and keeper of clan secrets through her medical records. She is about to return to a mainland life where there is no family or friends left to her. She will give up the people she has loved and adopted as family. A young nurse, Wren, arrives to replace her. Wren is beautifully drawn as a complex, caring nurse. We,the readers don't know whether to love or fear here and so the plot and tension build. Then there is the disappearance of Chase Charlie, a boy Bernadette partially raised and loves like a son. He goes missing. She tries to find him and unravel the mysteries round him, some Stories true, some complicated legends.
I realized as I mulled over this book that the author dealt with the issues of suicides and poor living conditions on the reserve in an organic way by writing it into her story. It made the loss and hurt so real. It opens the eyes much wider than just the statistics which we see all the time.
I realized as I mulled over this book that the author dealt with the issues of suicides and poor living conditions on the reserve in an organic way by writing it into her story. It made the loss and hurt so real. It opens the eyes much wider than just the statistics which we see all the time.
January 16, 2017
You have to turn in a circle many times to get the truth, picking up
just a little each time, taking it in...digesting it p47
In such a circuitous fashion, JM weaves a story around the complications of displacement and belonging: the exclusive nature of community and the crucial role of tradition. Fearless in her excavations, based on her own experiences as a white service provider in a remote native community, she asks if it is possible to overcome the cultural divide and find true communion on the other side.
Note on rating... even though I had some issues with some of the events and personalities, and the sense of gloomy detachment, I bumped this up because I am still thinking about it
just a little each time, taking it in...digesting it p47
In such a circuitous fashion, JM weaves a story around the complications of displacement and belonging: the exclusive nature of community and the crucial role of tradition. Fearless in her excavations, based on her own experiences as a white service provider in a remote native community, she asks if it is possible to overcome the cultural divide and find true communion on the other side.
Note on rating... even though I had some issues with some of the events and personalities, and the sense of gloomy detachment, I bumped this up because I am still thinking about it
February 18, 2019
This book drew me in immediately. The author is able to paint such a vivid picture of the northern Canadian setting and the people in her story that when putting the book down I often felt like I had to take a second to leave the story and return to 'real life'.
It didn't feel like there was one particular force driving the plot, it felt more like we readers had the opportunity to learn about and sit in on this community, and I was captivated the whole time.
It didn't feel like there was one particular force driving the plot, it felt more like we readers had the opportunity to learn about and sit in on this community, and I was captivated the whole time.
January 9, 2017
OMGosh! I just love this book! It is so beautifully, and descriptively written that you can "actually" see it playing out like a movie in your head. Being a Micmac Indian, I sort of had an affinity to this book after I read the back. Please read this book; it will open up your heart, mind, and spirit to start a conversation. You will not be disappointed!!
December 25, 2022
This was such a beautiful book that opened me up to world of the First Nations people of Canada. This book follows the last month or so of a nurse who has been living in the reserve for last 40 years as she comes to terms with moving to a different phase of her life. This book moved me, it captured me and made me think for much longer after I finished reading it.
February 10, 2019
I picked this up at a small little bookstore during a visit Whistler last year. My only complaint is this - why did I wait so long to read it!!! Touching. Beautifully written. Engaging characters. Suspenseful (I had to intentionally slow my reading down so as not to miss the beautiful prose). Intimate. I look forward to seeing what she writes next and if/when that happens I hope it'll be more readily available in the U.S. than this book appears to be.
September 2, 2020
I love this book. (Thank you Kathleen for recommending it.) In this day where we are finally talking more about racial equality and the problem with cultural appropriation, this novel, written in 2016 by a white author does a good job of making sure that the main character, a white woman, is not made the savior of the First Nation people where she has worked as a nurse in the small coastal community. Bernadette is getting ready to retire from nursing and is leaving the Tawakin Reserve in a few weeks after living there for 40 years when a radio call comes in that Chase, the young man who she delivered when he was born and is like a son to her, is reported missing after taking out his boat one evening.
The story is rich in culture and characters. There are no one dimensional characters written here, and I loved how the author writes especially about the women, starting with Patty, Chase’s wife. Patty is the mother of Hannah, a volatile young girl who Bernadette realizes is afflicted with fetal alcohol syndrome, though Patty and her controlling, and ever critical angry mom, Loretta are in denial about that. Then there is Miranda, an older woman who has weathered more tragedy than anyone should, and who was once a friend of Bernadette. Miranda has banished herself to a remote part of the island and will have nothing to do with the anyone, including her son Chase. I did wish there was more written about the lost love affair between Frank and Bernadette. Frank is an enigmatic and wonderful character.
All of the characters are great, including the horrible Loretta. I also liked the entrance of Wren Featherstone, the new nurse, also a white woman in spite of her name. Wren, a young woman raised by hippies, arrives with much aplomb to the island to replace Bernadette. Her introduction to the story is important in the comparison of how Bernadette and she approach living among First Nation people as white women.
What’s weird is that this book was difficult to find, though it was only written in 2016. I had to order it from Half Price Books online from Dallas to get it. The copies on Amazon were very expensive and it was not available as an ebook. (I’m actually glad i did not buy it in Kindle version though because it’s a book i want to own and put on my bookshelf.)
Bernadette is a lonely, lovely and incredibly empathetic protagonist, full of self doubt about her residency among the indigenous people even after 40 years. I liked her very much.
It was a jolting experience to finish this book the day after completing “The Dilemma”. “The Dilemma” was about a suburban woman who planned for 20 years to throw herself a huge expensive 40th birthday, only to have a tragedy happen on that day. However the character’s narcissism and obsession about her party made it difficult to empathize in any way for her.
I was glad to be done with those characters in “The Dilemma”, but the characters in “The Heaviness of Things That Float” (I love this title!) will stick with me, even mean Loretta.
The story is rich in culture and characters. There are no one dimensional characters written here, and I loved how the author writes especially about the women, starting with Patty, Chase’s wife. Patty is the mother of Hannah, a volatile young girl who Bernadette realizes is afflicted with fetal alcohol syndrome, though Patty and her controlling, and ever critical angry mom, Loretta are in denial about that. Then there is Miranda, an older woman who has weathered more tragedy than anyone should, and who was once a friend of Bernadette. Miranda has banished herself to a remote part of the island and will have nothing to do with the anyone, including her son Chase. I did wish there was more written about the lost love affair between Frank and Bernadette. Frank is an enigmatic and wonderful character.
All of the characters are great, including the horrible Loretta. I also liked the entrance of Wren Featherstone, the new nurse, also a white woman in spite of her name. Wren, a young woman raised by hippies, arrives with much aplomb to the island to replace Bernadette. Her introduction to the story is important in the comparison of how Bernadette and she approach living among First Nation people as white women.
What’s weird is that this book was difficult to find, though it was only written in 2016. I had to order it from Half Price Books online from Dallas to get it. The copies on Amazon were very expensive and it was not available as an ebook. (I’m actually glad i did not buy it in Kindle version though because it’s a book i want to own and put on my bookshelf.)
Bernadette is a lonely, lovely and incredibly empathetic protagonist, full of self doubt about her residency among the indigenous people even after 40 years. I liked her very much.
It was a jolting experience to finish this book the day after completing “The Dilemma”. “The Dilemma” was about a suburban woman who planned for 20 years to throw herself a huge expensive 40th birthday, only to have a tragedy happen on that day. However the character’s narcissism and obsession about her party made it difficult to empathize in any way for her.
I was glad to be done with those characters in “The Dilemma”, but the characters in “The Heaviness of Things That Float” (I love this title!) will stick with me, even mean Loretta.
March 14, 2017
I am having a very difficult time giving this book any kind of rating... I just can't decide! I will tell you why, but first...
Jennifer Manuel has written an autobiographical, yet fictional, novel navigating themes of identity. Primarily inclusion and participation within an identity. Her main character, Bernadette, has been a nurse for over forty years to a secluded island reserve belonging to the Nuu-chal-nuth peoples. Bernadette believes that she is apart of the reserve, basically family. However, this belief is contested through various actions and reactions that happen throughout the tale. The plot is mainly driven by the disappearance of her pseudo-son Chase Charlie.
While this book intrigued me thematically, I have a lot of problems with it:
1) The plot centered around Chase Charlie's disappearance is wayy too similar to that of Monkey Beach (one of my all time favourite books).
2)Bernadette's holier-than-thou attitude runs counter to the book's plot regarding a white person's influence on First Nation's life. Like, okay, maybe this is supposed to be written like this? With Bernadette being one of the most annoying characters to grace the pages of a book (in my experience). She herself classifies people who work with FN communities as either: Users, Savers, or Runners... without ever acknowledging that Bernadette herself falls into each of these categories during different times of the book. Additionally, this character complexity is completely denied by the end of the book; Bernadette receives some kind of redemption without ever fully acknowledging her conflicting role in the community. Manuel attempts to discuss this in different ways through B's mistakes and interactions with Wren, but I felt she wasn't fully aware of her character, and thus herself. (Either that or she didn't see herself as any of the classifications she so willingly pushed on others.)
3) Millennial Bashing: Did anyone else get the feeling that Wren was written in response to the rise and attempt of younger generations to be more politically correct, politically minded/involved? As a "millennial" (a term I hate) I feel like this is just an underhanded way to discredit any good that young people might be trying to do. And not to mention, making her a drunk just details a negative perception of young people.
4) The big reveal/ was so forced, unimaginative and just.... BLAH that I rolled my eyes at how unfortunate that plot ended. I wish that he just remained missing instead of that happening.
Overall, this book had beautiful writing once the author got into her flow, and is an interesting story, but not much else redeems it for me.
Jennifer Manuel has written an autobiographical, yet fictional, novel navigating themes of identity. Primarily inclusion and participation within an identity. Her main character, Bernadette, has been a nurse for over forty years to a secluded island reserve belonging to the Nuu-chal-nuth peoples. Bernadette believes that she is apart of the reserve, basically family. However, this belief is contested through various actions and reactions that happen throughout the tale. The plot is mainly driven by the disappearance of her pseudo-son Chase Charlie.
While this book intrigued me thematically, I have a lot of problems with it:
1) The plot centered around Chase Charlie's disappearance is wayy too similar to that of Monkey Beach (one of my all time favourite books).
2)Bernadette's holier-than-thou attitude runs counter to the book's plot regarding a white person's influence on First Nation's life. Like, okay, maybe this is supposed to be written like this? With Bernadette being one of the most annoying characters to grace the pages of a book (in my experience). She herself classifies people who work with FN communities as either: Users, Savers, or Runners... without ever acknowledging that Bernadette herself falls into each of these categories during different times of the book. Additionally, this character complexity is completely denied by the end of the book; Bernadette receives some kind of redemption without ever fully acknowledging her conflicting role in the community. Manuel attempts to discuss this in different ways through B's mistakes and interactions with Wren, but I felt she wasn't fully aware of her character, and thus herself. (Either that or she didn't see herself as any of the classifications she so willingly pushed on others.)
3) Millennial Bashing: Did anyone else get the feeling that Wren was written in response to the rise and attempt of younger generations to be more politically correct, politically minded/involved? As a "millennial" (a term I hate) I feel like this is just an underhanded way to discredit any good that young people might be trying to do. And not to mention, making her a drunk just details a negative perception of young people.
4) The big reveal/ was so forced, unimaginative and just.... BLAH that I rolled my eyes at how unfortunate that plot ended. I wish that he just remained missing instead of that happening.
Overall, this book had beautiful writing once the author got into her flow, and is an interesting story, but not much else redeems it for me.
July 15, 2020
This is a stunning story about belonging, grief, and the difference between understanding and only wanting to. Jennifer Manuel is incredibly gifted with words, especially in the way that she conveys the physical (and almost otherworldly) setting of Vancouver Island, and in how she easily describes the cold, sharp realities of grief and truth.
It's also a beautiful and respectful telling of Indigenous culture, specifically that of the Nuu-chah-nulth people of Vancouver Island. The way their culture weaves stories is woven into this story itself, and I really enjoyed learning little bits and pieces of what's important to the people in the book, inspired by people Manuel knows in real life.
I can't recommend this book enough. It's beautifully written and engaging the whole way through. Bonus points for reading on the West Coast!
It's also a beautiful and respectful telling of Indigenous culture, specifically that of the Nuu-chah-nulth people of Vancouver Island. The way their culture weaves stories is woven into this story itself, and I really enjoyed learning little bits and pieces of what's important to the people in the book, inspired by people Manuel knows in real life.
I can't recommend this book enough. It's beautifully written and engaging the whole way through. Bonus points for reading on the West Coast!
May 18, 2016
This is the story of a dedicated nurse who after 40 years of serving her nearby native community faces retirement with trepidation and regret. Tension builds and seams rip apart in the community when a man Bernadette has loved like a son goes missing. She grapples with her sense of belonging and her feelings of powerlessness as events unfold. The love she has for those she has served continue to fuel her even when she faces rejection. Native myth, culture and relationships are handled with respect and depth. Manuel's descriptions of scenery and personality keep the reader engaged right to the end.
One of my best books of the year.
One of my best books of the year.
June 10, 2016
“The Heaviness of Things that Float,” is a beautiful, haunting story. We follow Bernadette, a nurse who has served a First Nations Community for 40 years, and experience the upheaval that occurs in her life following the dispearance of Chase Charlie, a young man she loved like a son. Jennifer Manuel brings a remote but mystical environment to life as she examines the changes – in beliefs, relationships, and views – that Bernadette experiences as the story progresses. Using language that is lyrical and powerful, Jennifer Manuel shows the growth that can occur following such an upheaval – growth within an individual, growth between people, and growth between cultures.
February 12, 2019
Another amazing first book! This time about a fictional First Nations people in remote areas of western Vancouver Island. The author’s skill with prose, in the sensory descriptions, the characters and stories and culture, provide an image of such heartwarming and heartbreaking tenderness entire sections need to be reread and savored. There is much to be learned from this book, and this author has a fan.
July 28, 2016
A well-written story about being an outsider in a First Nations community. Bernadette is a nurse who has lived in a fictional First Nations community for 40 years. This book tells many stories of her time in the community, as the characters strive to grapple with a series of tragic events.
Manuel is a lyrical writer, and there is a great deal to be learned from this story.
Manuel is a lyrical writer, and there is a great deal to be learned from this story.
May 5, 2018
Wow! A beautiful and moving book about a nurse who has worked in a very (very) remote indigenous community on Vancouver Island of 40 years. About family and belonging and culture and secrets. Amazing. Very powerful. Hard to believe it's a first novel!
June 16, 2016
This is a book that will stay with me..not one to forget soon. A story of people confronting tragedy and grief, in their own way and according to their own traditions. Beautifully written.
April 20, 2017
Well written and absorbing. Character development was wonderful as was the author's ability to keep you entwined in her tale.
June 7, 2022
I’m absolutely conflicted by this book. On the one hand, it’s the best read I’ve had this year. It’s weird to say this, but it was a sensible read. Books or stories are sometimes too exhausting, there was something about the quietness and honesty of its language that allowed you to portal entirely into the story. It was its simplicity that gave a vivid quality to the narrative (every word could register), but it was almost cinematic in its detailed descriptions of scenes and events, and like the central scenes of a powerful film, some are truly unforgettable and very visceral. So, I sort of get Jennifer Manuel. Jennifer has worked as a treaty archivist and a teacher to indigenous people. Her knowledge with regards to indigenous culture is clear from having spent years (though not clear how many) living with them. From the Author’s Note she writes, "This is a novel about understanding privilege. I am privileged by history. I am privileged by my heritage.”
Before I came to Canada, I didn’t really know too much about indigenous culture or indigenous history, other than the complete conviction that there were grave injustices in the "founding" of the Americas. That was never a secret in my part of the world anyway, but I also had to learn the rhetoric around these issues, things like truth and reconciliation, honouring the treaty, and make sense of things like land acknowledgements, and perhaps the most difficult concept to grasp was that of privilege (a very deterministic concept). To tell you the truth, I still don’t know what any of it really means when the indigenous people continue to live in poor social conditions, and that’s why I’m so conflicted by this book. It still left me in the dark.
The narrator is Bernadette, the outpost nurse that had served on the Tawakin Reserve (fictional) for 40 years, alone, and on the verge of her retirement reflecting on her time spent at the Reserve, the conviction of having done her best, of having served the community, and having, after so many years, been part of them. All these beliefs are challenged as the events unfold, and with the disappearance of Chase, the man she loved like a son, the community’s buried secrets are unburdened and exposed, and she re-assesses whether or not she truly “belonged”. It’s her story, and her narrative, and the only story she can truly tell. But I don’t think the book navigated far enough to investigate the other and their suffering. It was almost about her ridding herself of individual guilt (to be distinguished from the larger and more detrimental collective “shame” the Tawakin community faced). I will say though, it got me invested in trying to understand their perspective, and understanding that the answers weren’t with Bernadette, and could never be. My feeling of being left in the dark was almost the entire point.
5/5 stars for being the best it could ever be.
Before I came to Canada, I didn’t really know too much about indigenous culture or indigenous history, other than the complete conviction that there were grave injustices in the "founding" of the Americas. That was never a secret in my part of the world anyway, but I also had to learn the rhetoric around these issues, things like truth and reconciliation, honouring the treaty, and make sense of things like land acknowledgements, and perhaps the most difficult concept to grasp was that of privilege (a very deterministic concept). To tell you the truth, I still don’t know what any of it really means when the indigenous people continue to live in poor social conditions, and that’s why I’m so conflicted by this book. It still left me in the dark.
The narrator is Bernadette, the outpost nurse that had served on the Tawakin Reserve (fictional) for 40 years, alone, and on the verge of her retirement reflecting on her time spent at the Reserve, the conviction of having done her best, of having served the community, and having, after so many years, been part of them. All these beliefs are challenged as the events unfold, and with the disappearance of Chase, the man she loved like a son, the community’s buried secrets are unburdened and exposed, and she re-assesses whether or not she truly “belonged”. It’s her story, and her narrative, and the only story she can truly tell. But I don’t think the book navigated far enough to investigate the other and their suffering. It was almost about her ridding herself of individual guilt (to be distinguished from the larger and more detrimental collective “shame” the Tawakin community faced). I will say though, it got me invested in trying to understand their perspective, and understanding that the answers weren’t with Bernadette, and could never be. My feeling of being left in the dark was almost the entire point.
5/5 stars for being the best it could ever be.
August 15, 2022
I am left speechless…this is one of the most beautifully written books I have read in a long time! I felt a deep connection to the characters and I was invested in their lives! Sad, raw, powerful, yet hopeful.
This novel is set in a northern Vancouver Island remote First Nations village. It is the story of Bernadette, a nurse who spent 40 years in the community, yet grapples with her sense of belonging as an outsider.
Highly recommend this book. It’s a good one.
This novel is set in a northern Vancouver Island remote First Nations village. It is the story of Bernadette, a nurse who spent 40 years in the community, yet grapples with her sense of belonging as an outsider.
Highly recommend this book. It’s a good one.
July 17, 2019
I loved this story. Thought-provoking and beautiful, and so very real.
March 17, 2025
A beautifully written Canadian novel that I picked up for Free at the library. I will pass it on so that others may enjoy the story. ❤️🇨🇦
December 30, 2025
Such a good read! Bonus points for being set in my region (Vancouver Island). Can white people ever really integrate into native culture, no matter how much they think they do? How about the "pretendians", like Buffy Saint Marie? I love a book that makes me think about it afterward and this one certainly fits that bill.
December 2, 2021
This novel has deepened my experience and understanding of my new home on Vancouver Island, both of the land and the indigenous people.
May 25, 2025
Now and then you read a book that stays with you long after you’ve finished the last page. Jennifer Manuel’s, THE HEAVINESS OF THINGS THAT FLOAT, is that kind of book. It is the story of Bernadette—a woman not quite 65—who has spent the past 40 years working as a nurse in Tawakin, a remote First Nations community on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island. When Chase Charlie, a young man whom Bernadette loves as a son, disappears, the entire community of Tawakin is affected. Ancient, long-buried stories bubble to the surface, as do old resentments, entrenched fears, dark secrets and not-quite-finished business.
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Rich and layered, the author skillfully paints an evocative picture of the desolate, yet beautiful landscape that is Vancouver Island’s wild, untamed coast. You can smell the cedar and smoke; you can hear the ravens in the trees; you can feel the icy sting of the relentless rain on your cheek. Most importantly, you can feel the quiet wisdom and aching vulnerability of the people who call Tawakin their home.
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The writing is hauntingly beautiful, with descriptions of people and place that left me moved. Take, for example:
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“The rain showed no signs of stopping. The large mounds of smooth stone along the beach were wet and slick, and I traversed them carefully, skirting around the slippery layers of green: the algae and kelp and sea lettuce and small sacs bundled like grapes.”
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Or...
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"…these contour lines, as well as the shorelines, conveyed nothing of the places’ true nature. Like those MRI maps of the brain: the squiggles of tissue and brightly coloured patches of thought showed none of the intimate memories or dreams or fears contained within the landscape of the secret self. This land hid Chase Charlie. And hiding he was, I was sure of it."
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THE HEAVINESS OF THINGS THAT FLOAT is a story told with utmost sensitivity by someone who clearly understands the complicated history of BC’s first peoples. Keenly observant yet never preachy, the author has written an important and engaging story—one that reveals so much about the fragility of culture.
.
Rich and layered, the author skillfully paints an evocative picture of the desolate, yet beautiful landscape that is Vancouver Island’s wild, untamed coast. You can smell the cedar and smoke; you can hear the ravens in the trees; you can feel the icy sting of the relentless rain on your cheek. Most importantly, you can feel the quiet wisdom and aching vulnerability of the people who call Tawakin their home.
.
The writing is hauntingly beautiful, with descriptions of people and place that left me moved. Take, for example:
.
“The rain showed no signs of stopping. The large mounds of smooth stone along the beach were wet and slick, and I traversed them carefully, skirting around the slippery layers of green: the algae and kelp and sea lettuce and small sacs bundled like grapes.”
.
Or...
.
"…these contour lines, as well as the shorelines, conveyed nothing of the places’ true nature. Like those MRI maps of the brain: the squiggles of tissue and brightly coloured patches of thought showed none of the intimate memories or dreams or fears contained within the landscape of the secret self. This land hid Chase Charlie. And hiding he was, I was sure of it."
.
THE HEAVINESS OF THINGS THAT FLOAT is a story told with utmost sensitivity by someone who clearly understands the complicated history of BC’s first peoples. Keenly observant yet never preachy, the author has written an important and engaging story—one that reveals so much about the fragility of culture.
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