Great novel full of surprises, full of love

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SUPPLIED PHOTO Gabriele�s dissection and depiction of maternal love is the book�s greatest strength.

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By Lisa Gabriele

Anchor Canada, 248 pages, $20

Do not judge this book by its cover. If you do, its bright glossy colours, dangling hearts and flowers and profile of a bosomy woman in a red clingy dress might lead you to think that this is another insipid, mindless novel to be quickly read and quickly forgotten.

But The Almost Archer Sisters is so much more than that.

It is, in fact, an extremely smart, funny, perceptive and moving work of fiction that is likely as fine, or finer, than many of the more highly touted Canadian novels published in recent months.

Toronto author Lisa Gabriele first gained attention in 2002 with her debut novel, Tempting Faith Di Napoli, a coming-of-age tale set in southwestern Ontario.

This new book is set in that same area, this time on a farm just over the American border. The farm is the family homestead of the American draft dodger Lou and his two daughters, Peachy and Beth.

The narrative revolves around the relationship between the sisters, and the way in which they each deal with a profoundly traumatic event from their childhood. Completely opposite to one another, Peachy and Beth, nonetheless, are each in their own way completely devoted to one another.

Peachy, the narrator, is the younger of the two, the rock of the relationship and her sister's "stalwart net." Partially from choice and partially by circumstance, she opts to remain on the family farm as an adult and raise her own children there.

Beth, restless, volatile, emotionally needy, attention seeking and self-destructive, escapes the farm as quickly as she can, creating for herself a glamorous life in New York City.

Both the characters of Beth and Peachy are expertly drawn. Their every thought, every action, every word is extraordinarily reflective of real life. The same is true of all of the novel's subordinate characters, among them the hippie Lou, Beth's cloying socialite friends, Peachy's husband Beau, and especially her two young sons, Sam and Jake.

These are boys that every reader will recognize, and what Peachy feels for them is genuine, unfettered maternal love. While so much about this novel is good, it is the particular way in which Gabriele dissects and depicts this motherly love that is its greatest strength.

Here she describes Peachy and Beau waking up with their son in bed with them: "In the morning Jake lay between us like something perfect we had made in the night. For a few seconds we both watched him dream in the nest of us. I remember feeling that if this is all that marriage is, then this is more than enough for me."

This is a beautiful novel that speaks volumes about motherhood, sisterhood, marriage, family loyalty and the refuge that is home. It is entertaining, truthful and insightful, full of surprises and full of love.

Sharon Chisvin is a Winnipeg writer.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 4, 2009 D0