Stranger: A Novel

by David Bergen

By the Giller Prize-winning author of The Time in Between, a stirring novel that lays bare the bonds of motherhood, revealing just how far a mother will go to reclaim her stolen child

The profound intelligence and political resonance readers have come to expect from Giller Prize-winner David Bergen are on rich display in his electrifying new novel, Stranger, “an engrossing human exploration of displacement and inequality in a world governed by greed” (Toronto Star).

Íso Perdido, a young Guatemalan woman, works at a fertility clinic at Ixchel, named for the Mayan goddess of creation and destruction. Íso tends to the rich women who visit the clinic for the supposed conception-enhancing properties of the local lake. She is also the lover of Dr. Mann, the American doctor in residence. When an accident forces the doctor to leave Guatemala abruptly, Íso is abandoned, pregnant. After the birth, tended to by the manager of the clinic, the baby disappears.

Determined to reclaim her daughter, Íso follows a trail north, eventually crossing illegally into a United States where the rich live in safe zones, walled away from the indigent masses. Traveling without documentation, and with little money, Íso must penetrate this world, and in this place of menace and shifting boundaries, she must determine who she can trust and how much, aware that she might lose her daughter forever.

In David Bergen’s Stranger, with its uncanny lake, human monsters, and a stolen child, an ageless story is freshly recast in a modern setting, where themes of dislocation and disruption, exploitation and vulnerability, rich and poor collide. Intense and beautifully rendered, Stranger is a powerful and affecting novel for our times.

Genres: Fiction, Book Club, Canada, Contemporary, Adult Fiction, Literary Fiction, Novels

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 6, 2016

About the author

Born in Port Edward, British Columbia, author David Bergen worked as a writer and high school English teacher in Winnipeg, Manitoba, before gaining a great deal of recognition in Canada when his novel The Time In Between won the 2005 Scotiabank Giller Prize, one of Canada's most prestigious literary awards. The novel also received a starred review in Kirkus Reviews and was longlisted for the 2007 IMPAC Award.

Bergen's debut novel, A Year of Lesser, was a New York Times Notable Book, and a winner of the McNally Robinson Book of the Year award in 1997. His 2002 novel The Case of Lena S. was a finalist for the Governor General's Award for English language fiction, and won the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award. It was also a finalist for the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award and the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction.

Additionally, Bergen has received the 1993 John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer, and the 2000 Canadian Literary Award for Short Story.

In 2008, he published his fifth novel, The Retreat, which was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and which won the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award and the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction.

Bergen currently resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba with his family.

Reviews

[Stace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Reviewed by Clive on www.whisperingstories.com

From the first page of Stranger it is clear why David Bergen has a dozen published novels to his name and why he has won awards. His writing is so atmospheric; I felt as though I was floating amongst the action in some sort of dream.

Part of this is his non-use of speech marks, a technique I have seen before and which can take some getting used to but Bergen really makes it work. Theoretically the story is told in the third person but the author follows Íso and puts us inside her head.

The initial storyline is familiar. A young, innocent local girl is attracted to a tall, handsome US doctor; married but supposedly separated from his wife. Initially we have some real tension as the wife and mistress are thrust together for a while. I won’t spoil the story but as expected the man leaves and the girl is left pregnant. Just as it seems she is coping with the situation the baby is taken away from her.

The book develops with far more action when, against the odds, Íso manages to travel to the USA in what is a very moving story of life as an illegal immigrant. Along the way she meets many challenges but she also receives some wonderful human kindness.

Migration is currently one of the world’s biggest issues and here David Bergen has contributed to the discussion. However the moral does not end there. Strangers is also a tale of the abuse, both deliberate and innocent, of the world’s poor by the world’s wealthy.

This was an almost perfect read and I have awarded Strangers a near-perfect four and a half stars.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This follows the story of Iso, a young Guatemalan fertility clinic worker. After an affair with one of the doctors, whose life changes after an accident, Iso finds herself pregnant. Her lover is back in the US with his wife. It is when Iso has given birth to her daughter that this story takes a change, her child is abducted and she knows who took her. She makes the decision to take her daughter back at all costs.

This is a very simply written story, but very effective. Iso is a very determined character with her heart and mind-set on one thing, her daughter. For me the author has tentatively gone into illegal border crossings, illegal immigration and exploitation, but the story is not about these issues, it is about a young girl. I found this simplistic approach kept the story moving and didn’t get bogged down in the politics.

I would recommend to readers of crime/ mystery, it does border on thriller occasionally, but this is a story about a young girls journey of determination. It is a quiet story rather than the blood and guns, guns blazing one. A simple story, simply told but very profound.

I would like to thank Duckworth Publishers for bringing this book to my attention. My thoughts are my own, honest and unbiased.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was no plan. Life is not that organized. The world is round. Things sometimes just happen.

Stranger by David Bergen is a deceptively simple kind of novel – if you read the book flap or the Goodreads synopsis, you'll learn the whole plot – but despite not finding many surprises (except for sudden acts of violence or kindness) as I was reading, it was the overall tone that I thought was this book's strength (and in a way, also what makes me hesitant in my judgment in hindsight). What's for certain is that this book is lingering in my mind, and that's always a good thing.

Beginning in the Guatemalan highlands, Stranger is told from the perspective of a young woman, Íso, who works as a “helper” at a fertility clinic while studying English Literature and saving to go to med school; you would be wrong to underestimate Íso. Right away there's a class distinction drawn between those wealthy white American women who come to “take the waters” and the local brown girls who excel at becoming invisible attendants; too insignificant for the clients to even consider modesty around as they allow the helpers to undress, bathe, and full-body massage them. In addition to the clients, the clinic is staffed by foreign doctors who look down on the locals while acting as great white saviours (but remember this is a for-profit clinic of questionable alternative medicine; hardly Doctors Without Borders). When the handsome Dr. Mann steals Íso's heart (despite warnings from her friends and family, Íso believes herself too smart and aware to be treated as a trifle), events are set in motion that will see Íso embark on a dangerous journey: crossing illegally into first Mexico and then the US, Íso navigates an altered America in which the rich have barricaded themselves further against the riffraff (hey, if you can't build an impenetrable wall at the southern border, why not build those walls around your individual neighbourhoods?) while the poor majority riots in the streets.

That's pretty much the plot, but as I began with, it's the tone that worked the best for me – and for the most curious of reasons. Now, I'm not someone who would ever warn another to “check your privilege” or gang up on an “ally” of (insert identity group) for misguidedly “white-knighting” during a conversation in which members of (the identity group) could very well speak for themselves (however I am fascinated by these confrontations and will read incredibly long comment threads to see how they play out), but I have long felt uncomfortable reading books written from the perspective of one gender when the author is of the opposite (and for the purpose of my generalised complaint I'm going full binary on gender; and note that I don't tend to buy women writing as men any more than I tend to believe men writing as women). When you add on the fact that Bergen is an older white man from Canada writing from the perspective of a young Guatemalan woman, something about this doesn't feel like his story to tell; there's an ironic overtone to the well-intentioned white man writing about the well-intentioned white man who went to Guatemala and messed everything up. And yet...I bought into Íso and her perspective. Using abrupt, clipped sentences (as in my opening quote), Bergen somehow keeps the narrative gender-neutral and matter-of-fact and this propels the plot without hitting any false notes.

As for the clipped sentences: some review (that I can't now find) said that a mark of Bergen's genius is that you'll find nary an adverb in his writing (and I'll need to think further on the truth of that). Maclean's refers to the spare writing in Stranger as “gorgeous lyricism” and The Globe and Mail says of Bergen, “He’s known for his clean prose and wonderful, startling observations, and this book has perfect pitch”, and I won't argue with that. There are a few passages that did approach the lyrical, and while the following long chunk (which, be warned, contains my only real spoiler) might have annoyed me in principle (as the experience of giving birth is not a man's story to tell), it was real enough to make me nod and think, “Yeah, there's truth in that”.

Íso closed her eyes. She breathed quickly and then slowly, depending on her state. She saw herself as floating on water, and then she became the water and the water became her. She went under, and she rose to the surface, and again she went under. And each time she went under, she went a little deeper, so that when she looked up at the surface of the water she made out vague shapes, and dim lights, and she heard as if from a great distance her mother's voice singing. She was no longer afraid. She was quite peaceful. The final time she went under she went very deep, and as she rose she saw the surface shimmering above her, but it was quite a distance, and she was losing oxygen, and just as she felt that her lungs were finished, she broke through the surface and gasped for air and the baby was born. She did not see the baby being born, of course, but she knew, because as she sucked for air she felt an extreme euphoria, and she heard Francisca say the word bueno, and she heard the women's voices rise and fall in happiness, and in that moment she believed she had done something that no one else had ever done before, and she was amazed at herself.

It is eventually revealed that Íso's full name is “Paraiso Perdido”, which translates as “Paradise Lost” (in an interview with the CBC, Bergen says, “whose paradise lost I guess is the question”), and in tandem with the American doctor's surname being Mann (and everyone is always warning Íso that men can't be trusted), I assume these names signal that the story was meant to be read as allegorical. If it's a geopolitical allegory, then maybe that Maclean's review is correct in thinking it's simply a rebuke of the US and how, “American interference has ravaged Guatemalan society while hostile U.S. immigration policies have hindered Guatemalan people from finding refuge there.” (But that seems a little too on-the-nose and smugly progressive-Canadian.) And it could be read as an allegory of the widening gulf between the rich and poor in America (but I found it to be a little over-the-top that the rich are greedily hoarding what they have – with razor-topped walls and paying their undocumented help so little that they must sleep under bridges and in squats – while the poor are eager at every turn to help Íso and share what little they have). Or it could just be an allegory of the continuing power differential between men and women, and especially as it concerns fertility and reproduction. It's probably some combination of all of these ideas; the fact that this book makes me think on all these ideas argues for its importance.

So after being startled by the clipped, spare prose, and having this ironic discomfort of being aware of the white foreigner commenting on meddlesome white foreigners – further complicated for me personally by the gender switch and the second half of the book serving as a commentary on American social wars as written by a Canadian; was this really Bergen's story to tell? – I liked Stranger more than I would have expected. I have no idea how it will stack up against the other titles on the Giller Prize longlist (I won't have read many of them before it's reduced to a shortlist next week), and it feels like a rounding-up to give four stars.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Find all my book reviews, plus author interviews, book extracts and guests posts, on my blog: https://whatcathyreadnext.wordpress.com/

10 Things I Loved About Stranger by David Bergen
1.First of all can we talk about that gorgeous cover? As soon as I received the book from the lovely people at Duckworth, I knew this was a book I was going to pick up and read straightaway. There’s something about that face, those eyes and the rich colours that enticed me.
2.The writing is beautiful: simple, concise, elegant and, at times, magical. ‘Thursday evening, alone, she walked and walked. At one point, crowds of people were walking against her, moving towards the stadium. She put her head down and pushed forward into the commotion, banging shoulders with the passersby, hearing them speak, and their bodies and their voices were like scraps of wood that she received, and with those scraps she fashioned a raft upon which she floated, and she turned the raft and moved downstream with the crowd.’
3.I loved the insight into the culture and people of Guatemala: the food they eat, how they travel, their houses and shops, the music they listen to. I was enchanted by the picture the author creates of Íso’s lakeside village. ‘The sun had set. The houses were lit. Young boys walked hand in hand in the streets, and a child squatted near to her family’s tienda. Nearby, an old woman sat before her fruit press, her clean glasses stacked beside the basket of oranges. Íso greeted everyone she met, and they greeted her in return.’
4.I fell in love with Íso. She’s brave, clever, thoughtful, resilient and utterly determined to reclaim her child whatever obstacles are placed in her path. ‘She inspected her heart. The hatred had been exhilarating. And welcome. And crippling. And exhausting. And very dangerous. For passion, anguish, jealousy, and anger would produce nothing but mistakes, and false steps, and failure. A cold heart was necessary.’
5.I adored Íso’s mother. She has such insight about humanity, with all its flaws. ‘There was something about living in a country where the language was not yours. You appeared to be stupid, and you weren’t noticed. Or if you were noticed, if was for your body, or to clean someone’s toilet, or to look after someone’s child. You turned into someone to chase or to scorn or to look down on. It was necessary, wherever you lived, to have the poor so that everyone else felt better.’ Senora Perdido’s own story is heartbreaking but the wisdom she takes from her experiences to pass on to her daughter is incredible: ‘You are smarter, and you are better inside, and you will not make the same mistakes I made. Do you see?’
6.Throughout Íso’s perilous journey in search of her child, the people who help her most are those who have least. The book creates an incredible picture of the generosity of spirit of people who possess little themselves but what they do have, they share.
7.Stranger presents an eloquent but depressing picture of inequality in our world. There is the world of people sleeping in doorways, or in makeshift encampments or living in squats and scavenging for food in dumpsters behind supermarkets. And then there is the world of gated communities where Íso eventually finds work, patrolled by security guards with security cameras inside and out and where the occupants throw lavish dinner parties. ‘She learned that her employers…were fearful, not so much of the day to day, but of the possibility that what they had might be taken from them – their advantage, their security – and this being so, they celebrated their fragile security by living extravagantly, by throwing large parties, and by spending large amounts of money on objects they would never use.’
8.Stranger depicts the brutal reality of the dangers faced by desperate people trying to enter the United States illegally via a kind of modern day Underground Railway, which operates by virtue of bribes and officials who look the other way, but whose organisers have no regard for the safety of the people they transport.
9.I loved how the book explored the incredible bond between mother and child, whether it’s the touching relationship between Íso and her mother, or the maternal force so strong that it sustains Íso half way across America, through untold dangers, to recover her child.
10.It made me think. About inequality, about the desperation that drives people to leave their homes in search of a better life and about how people see the world in different ways. Íso’s story will stay with me for a long time.

There you have it: my 10 reasons to read this book. I cannot recommend it too highly.

I received an advance reading copy courtesy of publishers, Duckworth Overlook, in return for an honest review.

[Nicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book turned out to be a very pleasant surprise, as I wasn’t too sure if I was going to enjoy it at first. The simple prose grew on me, and I couldn’t put it down in the end, desperately wanting to discover what happened to Íso and her baby.

As a mother I was rooting for Íso the whole time, although I did wonder what her plan was. I was very glad to discover that she wasn’t a ‘bad-ass’ woman on the rampage, but a young mother who was quietly determined to get her stolen baby back.

The description of her journey to the United States was so clear in my mind’s eye as I was reading and felt for her as she struggled to keep out of harm’s way. I enjoyed meeting the different characters she met along the way, making me wonder how I would behave in each situation.

I definitely recommend it if you prefer quiet determined characters rather than super hero ‘badass’ types.

Thanks so much to Duckworth Overlook for my paperback advanced reading copy.

[Shirley Schwartz · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2! This book was mesmerizing in so many ways. It explores the tie between a mother and child, and shows how far a mother will go and how much she'll endure to reclaim her child. The story is of youn Iso, a young Guatamalen woman who becomes involved with an American doctor who works in the fertilization clinic where Iso is a caregiver. The clinic is located right in amongst the Sierra Madre de Chiapas. The inevitable happens, and Iso finds herself pregnant and her doctor lover has gone back to the States with his wife. Iso has big plans for her unborn baby, but fate works against her, and she finds after one day that her baby girl has been taken. Iso knows that her lover and his wife have her so she sets out on a very long and arduous journey through three countries to bring her daughter home. The plot and the tension created in this book is unremitting, and Bergen does a wonderful job of character portrayal in all his characters, but especially young Iso. The only dissonance that I found in this wonderful story is the apparent distopian state of America. With no lead-up or explanation we find an America that has become a police state and that has been divided into numberred military zones. The book appears to be set in the present day right up until Iso crosses the American border, and then all of a sudden finds herself trying to navigate through a country that is goverened by armed guards and policemen. Very strange and I think not in character for the rest of this book But, in spite of that, this is a very compelling book and one very worthy of the Giller prize nomination.

[Nada · Rating 4 out of 5]

I seriously did not expect to fall in love with this one, and if I had to describe this book in three words, they would be: Mesmeric, Quotable and Profound.

A gripping story about Iso, a young Guatemalan woman, who through major events, finds herself struggling with lots of issues like love, motherhood, men, and life in general. She meets and falls in love with a charming Doctor, loses him to a fatal accident which had him move away, and finds herself pregnant and alone. To add to her struggles, her daughter was kidnapped and shipped off to America thus her journey begins to get her baby daughter back.

The plot and prose was super simple but I found myself admiring how easy the words flowed which made it very easy to read. It was beautifully written and I really could have finished this book in one sitting.

I couldn’t give it the full five stars because there did come up a point where I kind of got bored and forced myself to get through those pages. I found the first part of the book more appealing than the last half. Looking at the tabs marked in my book, it would testify to that. I found myself marking more quotes in the beginning.

Overall, I would totally recommend this book. It’s not a new story or have that wow factor, but in its own unique way, it has something worth reading.

Thanks to @duck_books for this book, which was given in an exchange for an honest review.

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Stranger' is a compelling book with an indomitable heroine who, like Blanche Dubois, must, at least occasionally, depend on the kindness of strangers. Sometimes she gets it wrong but mostly she is rewarded for her discerning criteria, with getting it really, perfectly right on.

I love this book which is full of social and immigration issues, race and class, all wrapped up as a parable infused with Magic Realism (that iguana!). It has the feel of a quest and while it certainly is that, it is not just that. Íso is someone who has a determined moral fibre which shines through in any language and I am relieved for her that Cormac McCarthy wasn't writing her story. She embarks on a sad side journey which likely no one else in her position would have undertaken. I like to think that her kindness and moral ethics won the battle as she courageously sought her Holy Grail, going from the depths of despair to the heights of hope - Paradise lost and found. I love how the water imagery is carried throughout the novel to insist upon its righteous great power in the end.

As they walked, the younger man followed from a distance. She did not know if three men were safer than the one boy, but she thought that one out of three might have a heart or a code that he lived by. Ch. 8

She was favoured. She was unknown. There was no curiosity about her and she took comfort in her anonymity...She felt very strong. Ch.8

[Kate (Reading Through Infinity) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was dark and gripping at times, yet I couldn't help but feel that, not being own voices, it missed out on some of the cultural nuances of Guatemalan society. And while the novel was wonderfully diverse, there was quite a bit of stereotyping of POC characters.
More thoughts on this in my review.

[Steven Langdon · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Bergen's well-written novels have usually been set in Canada, often in his home city of Winnipeg. But this excellent book explores a timeless theme, rooted mainly in the poverty and inequalities of Guatemala in Central America.

The central character, Iso, is a young woman working as support staff in a supposed lakeside fertility clinic, where North American women come in hopes that the lake's waters will make them fertile. Perhaps there are a few who do, but the clinic thrives on hopes rather than results. Into this narrow world comes a stranger, a young male American doctor with flowing hair and a powerful motor-cycle -- and Iso is swept off her feet, becoming his lover. This is to be forever, he tells her -- until the wife from whom he'd said he was separated arrives at the clinic seeking to have a child with her husband.

A child does arrive, but born to Iso -- even as the doctor's motorcycle crashes and he is returned, badly injured, to the U.S. Then things turn vicious, as the doctor's wife persuades the clinic to give her the new-born child -- who is suddenly thousands of miles away in America.

What is Iso to do? What follows, beautifully traced by Bergen, is her courageous, maybe foolhardy, effort to get herself illegally to the U.S. and bring her child back. There she will be the stranger with what seems a devastatingly formidable task to undertake.

The story of what happens, how it all plays out, kept me deeply engaged in this book. Bergen has written a story for our times, with its huge inequalities, its injustices and its struggles by people to try to overcome these. He writes without over-dramatization, but with a deep sense of compassion. The result is a very fine novel.

[Penny (Literary Hoarders) · Rating 2 out of 5]

What an overwhelming let down. :-(
I know Bergen is an acquired taste for some, but I have always had success with very satisfying reads by him, especially The Age of Hope.
Stranger however was incredibly disappointing. Wow.
I am actually sitting here shocked it made the Giller 2016 Longlist. I will be confused and shocked if it makes it to the Shortlist.
It is written with very basic and primary grade writing. Honestly. If you read the jacket flap description for Stranger, you will have read the book. How profoundly disappointing.
I am sitting here feeling so very thankful that when I went to purchase The Best Kind of People at the Coles Bookstore in the little mall by my house, Stranger wasn't available in the store. I usually have success with Bergen, so I was seriously considering purchasing the book. Thankfully, the library hold came in the day after I went to the bookstore.
Not a great start to my Giller Longlist reading. :-( :-(

[Sherry Monger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a fan of Giller winner David Bergen since reading The Time in Between. He draws you into a deceptively simple story line that eventually explores some of the deeper themes of literature - loneliness, connection, loss, invisibility, barriers and privilege.
Iso Perdito (Paradise Lost) lives in Guatemala and works at a Fertility Clinic where rich women from around the world come to take the waters in the hopes of having a child. When Iso's baby is stolen by a rich American woman, Iso sets off on a treacherous journey, disregarding the dangers in her path. Her quest illuminates the divide between the "haves and the have nots" and those who feel that their skin colour affords them an advantage over others. This book is very powerful and haunting.

[Debbie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little worried when one reviewer mentioned magic realism but am glad to say that there was such a good story with such a strong female main character that this new book by David Bergen escapes all categorization except powerful story.You will not want to stop reading so start it on a day when you have time. The author writes about same race over race dominance , the same abuse of the power money gives that we see all around us. The story is told from the view of a young, smart, educated Guatemalan who against all odds takes on the established order. No one who has been a mother will doubt the possibility of a love so powerful that any risk is acceptable.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is beautiful to read, though it is hard to explain why, as it is more tell than show. Most of the speech is reported speech, of the "Íso asked' and 'he said that' rather than the conversation happening on the page. of course some characters in the book speak Spanish and some English and this method avoids having to deal with that directly, but it could risk the characters not coming to life. And to some extent, they don't come to life. I could not tell you if Elena, the clinic manager is an evil person. I can only tell you what she did and said.

Even so, this book is beautiful, and poignant, and heart breaking. I don't know how, but it is.

[Donna Wellard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful story of a stolen child that will blow you away and show you just how strong the bond of motherhood can be! An American doctor gets a young Guatemalan woman pregnant. Her daughter is stolen at birth and the main character Iso, undertakes a harrowing journey into the US to take her back. At the same time the story also reveals the power of class, gender and racial division in our daily western lifestyle. Gripping stuff that had me finish this book off in a day, maybe two!

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In sparse and mostly understated language, Bergen spins a tale of a young woman being deceived into losing her newborn.
Told in third person, I was surprised at the nuance Bergen invoked in his bare bones writing style.
There is much social commentary in this tale. It is more than the story of a girl risking anything to recover her baby.
I wasn't quite sure about the ending on first reading. Poetic justice? Yes.
Magic realism? A bit. Worthy of a Giller honour? Absolutely.

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot itself was interesting but the story is almost a fairy tale. How naive can this girl be. And the odds of her getting her child and then returning home are astronomical. I didn't really enjoy Bergen's writing style this time. I felt the wording was too stilted and the sentence construction too simple.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you read the synopsis of the book, that's what it is simply. No surprises, but still hope. The main character Iso is beautifully developed. David Bergen has written a simple book, but has done so artfully, and something that still resonates with me weeks later. The struggle between rich and poor, and the vulnerable. I have no doubt where my heart lies.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bergen's plot and description of the settings, both in Guatemala and America, are rich yet disturbing. The female lead character Iso is strong, smart and courageous. The book is a thriller of sorts, that has a satisfying yet chilling conclusion. The book is fairly short. Worth reading.

[Siobhaun Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully and thoughtfully written, such an absorbing read! I heard him read a passage at the Vancouver Book Festival and had to buy it! One of the best I've read this year!!

[JMacDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read (not a great read - still looking for a 5 stars one) - I enjoy David Bergen’s books and this like the others is thought-provoking with a good plot and interesting characters.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the highlands of Guatemala, visitors come to admire the three volcanos, quaint villages, the afternoon winds which are said to blow away sin, and the eighty four thousand year old lake. On the shore of the lake, there is a fertility clinic where rich, infertile women come to benefit from the supposedly therapeutic properties of the water. Íso Perdito, a twenty two year old woman from the village, works at the clinic as a “keeper”, a job which, through undressing, dressing, massaging and bathing them, requires intimate interaction with the clients; in fact she is expected to meet all the needs of any woman assigned to her care. Yet the job is one which also requires her to render herself invisible, something Íso, a well-educated young woman, is usually able to achieve with ease. She is able to do so because she has her own long-term goal – she is working to save money so that she can train to be a doctor.
However, the arrival of one particular client presents her with more of a challenge. Susan Mann is the estranged wife of David Mann, a doctor at the clinic with whom Íso has been having an affair. Susan is infertile and, in an attempt to save her marriage, has come to the clinic for treatment. When this has finished she returns to America, leaving Íso and David to continue their affair until he has an accident which results in him being returned to Susan’s care. When he leaves, in addition to feeling heartbroken, Íso discovers that she is pregnant but, in spite of strong opposition, is determined to keep the expected child and, when her daughter is born, she immediately falls in love with her. However, her joy is short-lived because by the following day the baby has been abducted and taken to David and Susan in America. Íso, unable to accept this, sets out on a long and hazardous journey, across three countries, to reclaim her daughter and bring her home.
This is an intensely moving story which explores not only the strength of the mother/child bond and the lengths someone will go to protect this, but also examines the inequalities between the rich and the poor, where the former hold the power and pay little heed to the needs or wishes of the latter. Yet the author presented his main character as someone determined not to be a victim of what appeared to be an unequal task; she was portrayed as determined to hold onto her dreams and to take risks in order to achieve them. I enjoyed seeing how she met each of the challenges she faced and how these helped her to discover inner strengths. I felt a sense of outrage when it felt as though there was any danger that she would not succeed, and an equal delight when she found ways to circumvent the obstacles which were frequently put in her way. Her mother had told her that wisdom doesn’t come from hearing about the lives of others and Íso has to learn the hard way who she is, and how to create her own life-story.
Through Íso’s eyes the reader is confronted with the sad, uncertain lives lived by illegal immigrants in the USA and is also able to explore the confusion experienced when people are thrust into unfamiliar situations in a strange country. Throughout the story-telling the author exposes the inequities which arise as a result of racial difference, gender inequality, the sense of entitlement displayed by so many rich white people and many related themes – just one of his powerful reflections was that it is necessary to have the poor so that everyone else can feel better! He painted a sad and disturbing picture of the impoverished, uncertain lives lived by the illegal immigrants, often living in close proximity to the privileged (as a result of the colour of their skin) people who employ them. He also reflected on the fact that these employers rarely acknowledge the cultures, education and experiences of their employees; the latter are there to be made use of, or to be discarded when no longer required. However, I very much admired the fact that he was able to achieve all this without allowing a political agenda to overwhelm this very human story.
This is the first novel I have read by this author and I was impressed by his elegant, economical use of language. Through his subtle interweaving of observations about people, customs and landscape into the narrative, he evoked very vivid images which made the story feel vibrantly alive. Every single one of his characters felt credible, with each having something to contribute to Íso’s physical and emotional journey. Without losing any of the power of his often poetic prose, he maintained a state of tension and intensity throughout his engaging, insightful and thought-provoking story-telling, ensuring that I was reluctant to put the book down once I had started it! As well as being a good personal read, I think that the themes explored would make this an excellent choice for reading groups.

[Jennie S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read similarly themed books in the past, but none as complete as this. I hesitated trying to decide the number of stars to rate this story. My gut feeling told me to give it a four, but then I asked myself, what is it missing from achieving that last star? And there's nothing I could suggest to make this story any better. Nothing.

This is the story of a young girl in Guatemala named Iso, who worked as a keeper in a fertility clinic. Rich clients from all over the world go there to take in the water in the hopes of getting pregnant. Iso became enamoured with a handsome doctor with blond hair and blue eyes. His name is Eric Mann, and he’s from the United States.

Everyone thought Dr. Mann was separated with his wife, Susan. But later Susan came to the same clinic to try to get pregnant, and Iso had the impossible job of being her keeper.


Soon after Susan left, Dr. Mann accidentally ran over a local boy with his motorcycle. He suffered severe brain damage and boy died. To avoid prosecution, Susan came and took him home. Iso visited him one last time in the hospital before he left, and kissed him on the mouth for goodbye in front of Susan. She did not explain anything else.

After Dr. Mann and his wife went home, Iso realized that she is with his child. She wrote to him, never hearing anything back.

Iso decided to have the baby at the clinic. The director at the clinic offered money for her child, but Iso refused. Soon after birth, her baby was taken away from her. It turned out the director tricked her with paperwork and the baby went to Dr. Mann and his wife. The director offered ten thousand dollars to Iso, and Iso refused at first. She later decided to accept the money to travel to the United States to take back her baby.

As an illegal without papers, she was vulnerable. Her journey was full of hardship and heartbreak. She met a young boy named Gabriel during the crossing, whose father decided to send him alone to try to reach his mother in America. Gabriel died while crossing the dessert. Iso buried him and took his shoes and the note his father wrote to Gabriel's mother, so that she could have closure.

On her journey, she also met numerous people who are kind to help her, wanting nothing in return.

When she arrived at Dr. Mann's domicile, she could not enter the community as she is. So Iso became friends with a servant girl who she saw coming in and out of that community. Her name is Victoria, and from her accent Iso knew that they came from the same place. She beseeched Victoria for a job in that community and her recommendation. With Victoria's help, Iso obtained an informal position at the home of a childless couple.

Iso used the opportunity of walking the dog to explore the community and came into contact with Dr. Mann and her baby. The doctor is no longer a doctor. He was still recovering from his brain injury and could not remember Iso at all. They trysted regularity at a secluded garden. The doctor wanted Iso, maybe from a residual impression or an unbearable loneliness. But Iso found she no longer had the same feeling for the doctor. It was only pity that she felt for him.

One day under the guise of changing the baby’s diaper, Iso took the baby into a public bathroom and eloped with the baby in her backpack. Thus begun Iso and her baby’s journey home. It was not easy. She is vulnerable, especially now with a baby. She encounters men with evil intentions, but also people with hearts of gold.

Some time later, a bird watcher arrived at her hometown and asked the locals questions. The locals either didn’t tell him anything or told him things that were contradictory. It turn out he was sent by Dr. Mann and Susan, who paid him a huge sum of money to retrieve the baby. Iso’s uncle, Santiago led the man onto an island and the man was never to be seen again.

[Ceri Fowler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not a big reader of thrillers and only tend to enjoy them if they’re good and don’t require you to suspend your disbelief too much. Thankfully Stranger by David Bergen is excellent and just stays believable, if occasionally improbable.

Soaking up the last rays of sunshine before I retreat into jumpers and very thick tights all autumn long.
The story follows Íso, a young Guatemalan woman, who works in a fertility clinic. When her baby is taken from her, she undertakes an arduous journey to the USA to try and get her back. The story is utterly thrilling as she negotiates the border crossing and I was completely drawn in by the drama and, more importantly, the relationships between the characters.
Stranger is written in a simple but compelling style. Bergen’s prose is clean and his descriptions precise; nothing is superfluous to the story and everything is pared back, letting the tension come to the fore. In some ways, this lends a sense of detachment to the book and from the morals of the characters which is reminiscent of Albert Camus’s work of a similar title. However, the emotions of Íso for her baby are warm and true and thus the central character of this tale could not be more different from Camus’s emotionless Meursault.

Bergen does, like Camus, explore political themes with this book and deftly cuts into Western cultural misconceptions. Whether it is the way the wealthy patrons of the clinic treat the Colombian women who work there or how the kindest person of all is arguably the Muslim man Íso meets on her travels, the author is challenging us to challenge the hatred in our society and who it is directed at.

Overall, this book is so much more than just a good thriller. It is an excellent deconstruction of society, culture, and immigration. It treads carefully between the lighter and darker moments to ultimately emerge hopeful. Sometimes Bergen is too bold and the narrative creaks on disbelief; there is also an event late in the narrative which I think, as a woman, the reaction of the main character does not feel vivid enough. Ultimately Stranger is a triumph despite this and deserves to be added to your TBR lists.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a fan of Canadian author David Bergen for some time. His novels are beautifully written, heartfelt and insightful. His stories evoke memories of people and places but also gently arouse a need in the reader to re-examine one's own thoughts and feelings particularly with respect to social issues. His new book Stranger is no exception and is best described in a review by Safa Jinje:

"An engrossing human exploration of displacement and inequality in a world governed by greed. Bergen paints a dire reality that isn’t far off from the current state of affairs in the United States. Stranger engages with complicated political issues and exposes class, gender, and racial oppression, while also highlighting the inhumane and shocking sense of entitlement on the part of wealthy white Americans. But the novel never gets bogged down by its political agenda. Bergen has a remarkable talent for creating empathy and for keeping his plot zipping along with the speed and intensity of a first-rate thriller. The book manages the rare feat of being profound and important but at the same time absolutely gripping".

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought about giving it 5 Stars, but I tend to reserve that rating for books I would read again or felt life-altering. I think I wanted to give it five because it surprised me.

I picked this book up because I was researching a subject and this came up in my search results. I’m glad it did, though I didn’t learn anything new about what I’m researching.

At first I was annoyed by the writing style, particularly the dialogue, which uses no quotation marks. But it ends up working, actually adding to the quality of the book. It’s strangely distancing, also the way the author tells rather than shows throughout almost the entire book, yet, it works. I felt like I could feel what the protagonist was going through.

It’s a story of maternal love, and how a young woman goes from naive to wise, though sadly much of this wisdom is gained through awful trials. There is also danger and different cultures. I love to read different points of view of different cultures, especially marginalized cultures. In the end, I felt like I got something positive out of this book that helped widen my view of the world.

[Claire, The Slow Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was quite a journey.

The story follows a young woman named Íso, who embarks on a perilous journey through war-torn Afghanistan with a mysterious stranger named Adam. The raw portrayal of the human spirit amidst chaos and conflict struck me the most about this book. Bergen's writing is vivid and evocative, painting a picture of Afghanistan that's both beautiful and brutal. Through Íso's eyes, we experience the complexities of love, loss, and survival in a land torn apart by war. The relationship between Íso and Adam is captivating, filled with tension and tenderness as they navigate the dangers around them. The book's exploration of the universal themes of identity and belonging is appreciated. Íso grapples with her own sense of self as she confronts the harsh realities of the world around her, while Adam remains an enigmatic figure whose past is shrouded in mystery. In short, Stranger is a poignant and thought-provoking read that will stay with you long after you turn the final page. It's a powerful reminder of the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity and the bonds that can form between strangers in the most unlikely of circumstances.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, so much more than I had anticipated. The last two years, i have challenged myself to read the long list of Giller finalists. As a result, I have sometimes read books that I wouldn't normally pick up, for one reason or another. As part of the process, I have even read books that I haven't really enjoyed. (On the positive side of this, I have since found several new favourite authors that I would have missed.) For reasons that I cannot explain, I had expected this book to be a bit of a slog of a read --difficult subject matter, wordy and long. And yes, although the subject matter is not easy, I was wrong about everything else. The writing was beautiful and elegant yet simple in that it was engaging. I did not want to stop reading the book. I wanted to find out what happens to Iso and her baby. Beautiful book and I look forward to reading more of the author's work.

[Linda Steighner · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Stranger: A Novel" by David Bergen tells the story of Íso Perdido, a young woman working at a Guatemalan fertility clinic frequented by rich American and European woman desperate for a baby where they undergo mystical treatments to conceive or they simply buy a baby from the poor native people. Íso falls for the handsome American Dr Mann, whose wife had been a patient at the clinic, and becomes pregnant. The Mann's return to the states and when Íso's baby is born, the baby disappears. Íso illegally sneaks into America determined to get her baby back. The book is so timely with the current political climate over immigration. The America depicted is divided, both with walls and by money. Was a very easy to read novel that kept the story moving even though much of the book was not action centered. Very well done social commentary.

[Ronnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Touching Story of Love and Loss

This book is written with a simple cadence that seems exactly right for the setting of the story. It is a tale of life at a fertility clinic in Guatemala, and of a relationship between two people from different worlds who connect there. The rest of the story is what follows....
The tale was well thought out, improbable but not impossible, I imagine. It was both warm and sad in many ways. I always like to read a book where I like and understand the characters. Each person was developed in a way to expose their personality perfectly. They all showed strengths and weaknesses. I felt their pain even if I disliked them.
I certainly would recommend this book.