Missing fiddler sought out in fabulous fiction

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This article was published 27/01/2018 (3125 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Folk musician Geoff Berner has a gifted ear for creating different character voices, and has mastered the art in his second novel, The Fiddler Is a Good Woman.

Named for a song, The Fiddler Is a Good Woman is also the title of the fifth track on Berner’s 2007 album The Wedding Dance of the Widow Bride. The novel is built on the premise of Berner, a singer-songwriter and accordion player, attempting to locate a missing friend and fellow folk musician, a well-known, talented fiddler known only as DD.

The story unfolds in an anecdote-filled, non-chronological jumble of interview fragments the fictional Berner supposedly conducted between 2012 and 2016 with DD’s friends, acquaintances and former lovers, who share what information they can about DD’s character and personality to help Berner find her.

Each narrative voice Berner has created reveals an interesting character unto itself, such as one of DD’s former lovers, Jasmine McKittrik, who, in calling DD selfish and impatient, reveals those qualities in herself.

Pete Podey, a drummer who toured with DD, epitomizes the invisible drummer whom no one ever notices but who sees and hears everything. Name Withheld, a Belfast poet, reveals a vulnerable side of DD when he recounts how he met DD and helped her escape from a group of unsavoury bikers in a bar.

Berner weaves together a total of 13 distinct narrative personalities to shed light on who DD was and what kind of life she led — and where she might be now.

The end result is a rich, engaging and entertaining portrait of a brilliant, mischievous trickster personality, a woman who lives and breathes music, who lives life to its fullest, is fearlessly brave and a fiercely loyal friend and lover.

At the same time, she is an independent soul who defies rules and conventions, and constantly lives outside any social, political or emotional cage that tries to contain her.

Berner’s sabre-sharp humour cuts through the novel and is shocking and wry, political and gut-busting. Readers familiar with his songwriting or live performances will recognize his characteristic style that is simultaneously in the gutter and the ivory tower, both highly intelligent and bawdy.

The Fiddler Is a Good Woman is a richly woven tapestry describing the life of a touring Canadian folk musician that may or may not be founded in truth, but that is certainly informed by experience and respect for an inimitable and uncrushable character. The many voices sharing in the tale work well together to paint a colourful picture of a complicated and interesting personality.

Christine Mazur is a Winnipeg writer, fiddler and folk fest-going music lover.