The Island Walkers

by John Bemrose

Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize A Finalist for the 2003 Giller Prize Across a bend of Ontario's Attawan River lies the Island, where, for generations, the Walkers have lived among other mill workers. But in the summer of 1965, with the threat of mill closures looming, the Walkers grapple with their personal crises, just as the rest of the town fights to protect its way of life. Superbly crafted and deeply moving, this book is at once a love letter to a place, a gripping family saga, and testimony to the emergence of an important new novelist.

Genres: Fiction, Canada, Historical Fiction, Book Club, Literary Fiction, Canadian Literature, Contemporary

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Description: It is 1965, and when a large corporation takes over the mill, and workers attempt to unionize, Alf's actions inadvertently set in motion a series of events that will reverberate far into the future and burden him with an unspoken shame. This is also the year when his eldest son, Joe, falls headlong for a girl he first glimpses on a bridge - and his world is overturned by the passion and uncertainty of young love. The bittersweet story of Joe and Anna is juxtaposed against his father's deepening role in the tensions building at the mill and his unsettling connection with a local Native woman, Lucille Boileau. Meanwhile, Alf's wife, Margaret, must reconcile her middle-class English upbringing with her blue-collar reality, as her marriage is undermined by forces she cannot name.

Set over the course of a single year, the novel reaches back to the past - to Alf's haunting memories of the Second World War and his brother's death; to the stories of the town's founder, Abraham Shade, and those of the eccentric river man Johnny North.


Opening: A TOWN OF OF TWO RIVERS, its plunging valley an anomaly in the tedious southwestern Ontario plain.

Bridges. Water at dusk. The play of ghosts on the sloping face of a dam.

High windows shot with gold, glimpsed among maples. Streets that beckon and disappear. The traveller, coming across this place, might be forgiven for imagining that life is better here.

The Victorian facades of the downtown stores, the deep centre of town. The backs of these buildings fall straight to the Shade River. From the Bridge Street bridge, you can savour the Old World atmosphere conjured by their wooden balconies, perched randomly above the water, above the cut stone of foundations, which seem to move upstream as the Shade brushes past through a flecking of shallow rapids. The cries of gulls.

For a debut this is a remarkable achievement. Loved the writing style.

Three male members of one family, the eponymous Walkers, are examined over a year of change: Alf, the father, Joe, the eldest son, and Jamie the younger boy. There are peripheral females yet they are not brought fully to life, and I can say that even after wading through the gratuitously long section about the new kid in town. What a 'Mary Sue' Anna was in Joe's eyes!

So it is the father and the younger lad that I became most interested in.

Because of the obvious start out flaws this couldn't grab the full dongs, yet hot damn! I became involved with this story: when I wasn't able to read due to outside influences, I was thinking about these characters. Recommended.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. I loved it so much in fact that I hugged it after I finished.

It's the story of the Walkers, particularly father Alf and oldest son Joe, but it's also the story of a whole town maybe even of a specific time. Small town politics play a big role in this story. Everyone knows everyone and that comes with positives but also negatives. How do you leave your past behind when it's not just your past, it's shared by the whole town?

Alf and the Mill are the central story here but Joe's story stands out to me. He falls in love with a new girl in school and here we see class politics at play. Joe doesn't feel he's worthy of a girl like Anna, feels he has to become more than he is to win her over. In spite of it being pretty clear that this is his own issue, not necessarily hers, it weighs him down to a point where he struggles with his own family and upbringing while constantly trying to escape it. Joe and Anna actually reminded me of Pip and Estella from Great Expectations in some ways. Not quite as dark or tragic as that pairing but still I saw a lot of similarities there.

There are a few different threads of different stories in this book and for once I feel like every one of them was rounded off perfectly. Everything was wrapped up in one way or another. I finished the book feeling completely satisfied. Except for..... there's on chapter in the middle there, where Jamie and Billy go to cut a Christmas tree.... if you've read it you know what happens. I'm still not sure why it was in there, and in such detail? I kept thinking it'd come up again later, but it didn't really.

That issue aside The Island Walkers goes right onto my list of favourite books, and straight to the top of my "Make This Into A MiniSeries When I Win The EuroMillions Lottery" list. High praise indeed.

[Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely read

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

A much more complex book than I was expecting. Yes, it is about a small town, dependant on the local textile mill and the changes that occur when a big corporation takes it over and the workers try to form a union. But it is also about so much more. Constant references to divisions: real divisions – class, labor, economic, racial, and educational – and the metaphorical: the river, the island, and the train trestle. The characters are fully developed and interesting. The story is dark yet ends with hope.

[Bibliophile · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful prose style and descriptive prose, but I just couldn't care less about the plot and the characters weren't sufficiently interesting to draw me in either. Maybe if Joe had gotten his rich girlfriend (who was also a poet and half-French and ever so sensitive and different from every other girl ever - ugh!) pregnant and then taken her out on the river on a boat ... wait, that's An American Tragedy.... A snoozefest, and I don't think I'm going to be reading anything else by this author.

[Andrea Tomkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s really hard to give this book a rating. The writing is gorgeous and lyrical. If words were paints, this would be an epic rolling landscape. That being said, it was slow moving, so slow that life altering events for the main characters seemed to be shrunken or diminished in scope somehow.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alf really shit the bed. Not much of a role model for his family. Broken. Potential unrealized. Dishonourable as a man. Son Joe had a boner for a girl. Manufacturing era slumping, local yokels unable to adapt. I was hoping for a catchy hook towards the end, but it just all went to pot for the Walkers.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this on the Kindle without a blurb and having forgotten what it was about, I was expecting some historic Cape Breton thing... not at all. The island is a river-bound bit of a Southern Ontario mill town, the Walkers are a family and it all unfolds in (only slightly atmospheric) 1965-66: the abutting stories of the members of the family, particularly of the middle-aged father feeling union pressure and his teenaged son with girl problems. People living together and yet not together - in fact having only quite small, random effects on the lives of the others. I'm not sure that the author wasn't trying to suggest the opposite, but the effect for me is plutôt existentialist.

It's very strong on characters (imagined in great detail), rich in interior thoughts and nicely descriptive (especially of the natural world, both threatening and restorative - a Canadian speciality, cf Atwood et al.), and it's full of foreboding as everyone seems frequently on the verge of some, probably river-related, disaster. In fact, there is just too much of this in the book, too much of everything. Too much detail about what people are doing step by step, too many thoughts, too many little things happening, too many characters - too much business, basically, and some loose ends - in fact some stories that are loose at both ends, ie they come from nowhere and go nowhere. (I'm thinking of Mr Mann's chapter, and Billy and Penny.) The plot is moderately engaging but the writing is janky in spots and overall the effect is rather heavy, too earnest and meaningful by far. I was unconvinced by the ending. But there is something here for sure: the chasms between people, how close we are to death at all times, just how many thoughts can be drifting around a room at once...

Moved on next to Richard Ford's Canada, which is also about a family in the 60s, and somehow it's so different: for instance, Bemrose telling us what people are wearing seems irrelevant and rather inept, whereas Ford tells us the same thing three times and it's important and illuminating.

[Sooz · Rating 4 out of 5]

only a few chapters in but i am really enjoying it. Bemrose has a real gift for developing characters - or rather letting them develop themselves, for that is what it feels like. it feels so natural and organic. his writing never feels manipulative or forced. AND on top of that he has a beautiful sense of language. i'm looking forward to immersing myself in the story.

finishing the book with only one minor criticism. The Island Walkers essentially tells the story of a man and his teenage son. and whether Bemrose is writing from the 4o something or the teen perspective, it comes across as very believable. he creates story lines for two minor characters - a younger brother and younger sister - story lines outside their place in the family. neither of these story lines feels useful to the story. to me they distracted from the main story line. a minor complaint to be sure. on the whole i really enjoyed the book.

i've added his new novel to my 'to be read' shelf

[Susan Quinn]

DNF.
To me, this was a sad tale and when I noticed that after what seemed to be a lot of reading, I was only 1/2 way through it, I gave it up.

The author places his book in southern Ontario during a time of corporate takeovers and union-busting - themes that I'm familiar with and a location I know. And he writes well.

But I felt like I was under a dark cloud as I read this and felt that it was not going to end well.

I'm not rating it because I think it might be a good book that I'm just not in the mood for now.

[Sharon Plett · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not like this story. I did not sympathize with the characters and I found it dreadfully heavy. I kept waiting for something good to happen in the book but Bemrose does not reward the reader at the end for sticking with this fictional family. The ONLY reason I kept reading to the very bitter end is that John Bemrose is a very good writer. So while I did not like Bemrose's story, I do enjoy his writing style and recognize that he is a very talented writer.

[Ayny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the Canadian setting and descriptions of water ways, old buildings and vehicles. Interesting every day story, and perspective from the male main characters. First 3/4 of the book are intertwined experiences, then it seems people in the story fizzle out. The ending was not at all what I expected, and left me wondering the fate of two of the young boys in the story. (?)

[M Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is tragic, unforgettable and pervaded with a certain sense of hopelessness. Because that doesn't sell it very well, I'll add: I really loved it. Hold your loved ones close and be thankful and fight for any agency you do have in your life. The characters in The Island Walkers have regrettably too little.

[J. Ewbank · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book by Bemrose is about a family. The family has their share of problems. From an idealistic father to other problems it is a very interesting and good story. I enjoyed it.

J. Robert Ewbank author "Wesley's Wars" and "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the Isms"

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful, full of live, typical Canadian way of living, in small towns, far from the quotidian big town fuss, where everything is tightly linked to an industrial site, which when is closed by corporate decisions everything is going sadly down. Loved this book.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was disturbed by the accumulating sorrows of the story, but certainly appreciated the writing. A poignant Canadian author, Bemrose's writing is reminiscent of William Faulkner combined with Mary Lawson.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up in an airport and it was a good slice-of-life novel. Hit on some of the seedier sides of life, and was made more interesting by a kid's perspective.

[Wanda]

28 JUL 2015 - another terrific recommendation from Bettie. Many thanks!

[Wendy Williams · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a huge disappointment for me. I had just finished reading two great books by Alistair MacLeod and I was in the mood for more quality Canadian fiction. I was also impressed by the ‘Giller Prize Finalist’ badge on the cover and so I was primed to enjoy this book.

Unfortunately I never got into this book and it was a boring struggle to finish it. The characters felt like wooden stereotypes and I never cared about any of them. Many plots were introduced, but many of them (even some that had good potential) never went anywhere. The plot was so obvious that I felt I could have predicted the entire plot of the book after just a few chapters.

A few other reviewers noted that the author has great style but I disagree with this as well. The descriptions were long, hackneyed, and full of cliches. Some of the writing was chringy to the point of turning sentimental or serious moments into comic writing. And the sex scenes, well I read some of them out loud to my husband and we were both laughing.

There are so many great books out there please don’t waste your time on this one.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a lot to like about this book, primarily the skill with which the descriptions, both physical and psychological, are pulled off. The principal characters, a father and son, are also well-drawn, and the plot--the fate of a family torn between the failures of a flawed patriarch and the n0-winners-here reality of protracted labor conflict--is compelling in a claustrophobic, small-town way. Where the novel stumbles a bit I think is in an overemphasis on the love relationship between Joe and Anna (though again, the drama of first love, for Joe at least, is expertly executed), and an associated underdevelopment of the characters and fate of the two younger children. I also thought the climax involving the father's and the mill's fate went over the line from the dramatic to the melodramatic and thus fell somewhat short of evoking the pathos of the tragic. Still and all, a worthwhile read, albeit quite grim in spite of a surprisingly sunny concluding paragraph.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I may have to stop reading books that are Award winners and highly acclaimed by famous writers and book authorities.
This book has some great character development, and good descriptions of the very canadian scene, and I did read all the way to the end, but I was hoping for much more in the story, and I was disappointed. Lots of details and lots of small stuff, but too many pieces that did not really fit in as part of the story, and several that did not go anywhere - just kinda hung in space without any point or coming to any ending.
I found it all very slow and hard work reading. The feeling throughout was dark, pessimistic and foreboding, verging on just plain depressing.
With apologies to those famous writers who loved it - it was definitely not my type of book. I didn't get it.

[Marlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Giller Finalist. Set in 1965 small town Ontario where the hundred year old mill is the sole employer. It’s bought out, the employees form a union after which time the company shuts the mill down and moves it to Quebec. The Walkers are a lower middle-class family whose father Alf is the key employee to start the union and a hero in the town. However, his wife is a war bride from a solidly middle-upper class British family and did not realize Alf was less well-off before she married him and moved to Canada.

This story is told from a man’s perspective and does not explore enough of the redeeming qualities of the characters. The men were weak and brought down by their weaknesses, and the women were all distant and not able to fullfill their lives.

[Siobhan Markwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This ambitious novel combines big themes about success and integrity in the world of work with personal romantic and sexual themes that straddle two generations of a family in a Canadian wollen mill town. There are some wonderful prose passages that make you hungry for more and a sense of dread builds effectively balanced neatly with rays of hope. Bemrose is a pretty and it shows. For fans of intricate family dramas, there's lots to enjoy but I have to say on occasion I wearied and felt frustrated that certain pilot lives didn't follow through. It was as though at a certain point Bemrose too hot turned and thought to himself, for Pete's sake let me have finished this already.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This seemed to hold promise but never really went anywhere. A lot of contrived introspective meanderings. What could have been important themes--poverty, labor relations, child sexual abuse, treatment of Indigenous people--all disappeared into a fog of undefined despondency. I also did not like that, of the 5 main characters in the Walker family, the focus was entirely on the males. The mother and 10 yr old daughter had no voice. Maybe that changed in the last 200 pages, but after reading 300 pages, I doubt it.

[Jane Glen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I did get through this but found myself checking several times- yes, it was a Giller finalist, as well as being nominated for other awards. But it just never really seemed to go anywhere, but I kept hoping. The characters were insubstantial with seemingly little control over their lives or circumstances. And the ending was a let-down, to say the least. Ah, well...

[Mackenzie Vandenburg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping from start to finish, great nostalgic Canadian experience.

Class systems, plagued morality, young complicated love and so much more all combined in a great telling of what it means to lose yourself in live then find who you are in unexpected ways.

Would highly recommend, especially for those who appreciate deep thought and descriptive scenery’s.

[Jennifer Aubertin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took my time with this book. Totally and completely wrapped up in its painstakingly detailed settings and lifelike characters. I grew up with Joe and sympathized with Alf all the while following along the tragic story of their lives, meandering like the Atta River. I truly loved this book and mourned when it was done.

[Deborah Sowery-Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely on a roll with a succession of sad reads. This one is set in an Ontario mill town centering around the Walker family who faces challenges such as the failing of the local mill, union uprising, death, infidelity & so on. Lots of stuff going on & as one reviewer mentioned there are a few storylines that should have received more time or closure but overall I liked it.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complex and beautifully written family drama and coming of age story. Some emotional and challenging moments. Kept me interested right to the end, which somehow left me wanting more.
Captured a small Ontario town perfectly.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a portait of small town strife and short comings, this was probably better than "good." As a story, there was no need of background music to predict the errant behaviours of the cast, there was darkness that seemed manipulative rather than pertaining to the plot.