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A review by aj_x416
The Cartographer of No Man's Land by P.S. Duffy
4.0
An ambitious attempt to recreate what happens when our moral compass falters (and we have to chart our way through No Man's Land -- get it?). The story follows that theme during WWI both at the War Front, and simultaneously in the Nova Scotian Home Front, through two major characters, Angus, who enlists to find his brother-in-law gone missing in battle, and Simon, Angus's 13 y.o. son left to wonder about it all in a small fishing village.
What makes this novel really good is the fact that I find the dual narrative technique almost damned impossible to pull off successfully. Nine times out of ten, I tend to enjoy one of the storylines far more than the other, then it becomes a chore to plough through the "secondary" story. Duffy performed an amazing balancing act in creating intrigue and urgency in the fishing village and Simon's life that matched and sometimes even surpassed my interest in what was going on with Angus and the war. I also give the author kudos for capturing great voice in the varying characters, remaining true to the era and the communities portrayed.
What stopped this book from achieving five-star status and sometimes threatened demotion to three-stars was, first, the implausible premise for Angus's enlistment (sorry, but even if I accept that he is willing to leave his wife and the son he loves very much, there is NO WAY I can buy into the notion he thinks he can find his brother-in-law, Ebbin, while working as a cartographer in London, which for obvious reasons that contradict the premise itself, never happens). In fact, the whole plotline about Ebbin was a bit of a head-shaker for me. And while Duffy is quite adept at her description, she was less sure-footed when it came to action: I found several of the battle scenes very, very hard to visualize. Finally, there were a couple of minor characters who just stayed flat or unrealistic.
In summary, this was a generally enjoyable book that occasionally lurched between lyrical and evocative towards melodrama or muddled action, but it never lacked interest for me, and I admired its scope.
What makes this novel really good is the fact that I find the dual narrative technique almost damned impossible to pull off successfully. Nine times out of ten, I tend to enjoy one of the storylines far more than the other, then it becomes a chore to plough through the "secondary" story. Duffy performed an amazing balancing act in creating intrigue and urgency in the fishing village and Simon's life that matched and sometimes even surpassed my interest in what was going on with Angus and the war. I also give the author kudos for capturing great voice in the varying characters, remaining true to the era and the communities portrayed.
What stopped this book from achieving five-star status and sometimes threatened demotion to three-stars was, first, the implausible premise for Angus's enlistment (sorry, but even if I accept that he is willing to leave his wife and the son he loves very much, there is NO WAY I can buy into the notion he thinks he can find his brother-in-law, Ebbin, while working as a cartographer in London, which for obvious reasons that contradict the premise itself, never happens). In fact, the whole plotline about Ebbin was a bit of a head-shaker for me. And while Duffy is quite adept at her description, she was less sure-footed when it came to action: I found several of the battle scenes very, very hard to visualize. Finally, there were a couple of minor characters who just stayed flat or unrealistic.
In summary, this was a generally enjoyable book that occasionally lurched between lyrical and evocative towards melodrama or muddled action, but it never lacked interest for me, and I admired its scope.