Kim over at Reading Matters has decided to devote her reading life to OzLit this year and I’m looking forward to discovering some Aussie writers hitherto unknown to me. We in the UK tend only to read the headline acts such as Peter Carey and Tim Winton, I suspect. The same could be said of Canadian fiction but a visit to Naomi’s Consumed by Ink will introduce you to a whole bunch of vibrant writers, although if you’re like me and have long sworn off Amazon you may have trouble in tracking some of their books down. Not so with Kim Echlin I’m pleased to say. Under the Visible Life is the first novel of hers I’ve read but if this engrossing tale of female friendship set against a backdrop of tumultuous social change and cultural difference is anything to go by I’ll be hoovering up her entire backlist shortly.
In 1950 Mahsa’s Afghan mother ran away with her American father, finding sanctuary with an uncle in Karachi. Mahsa’s is an idyllic childhood, music running through it like lifeblood as her parents dance and sing caught up in their love for each other and their daughter. When the uncle dies Mahsa’s parents are left without protection from the half-brothers intent on avenging their sister’s honour and the inevitable happens. Mahsa becomes the ward of a much stricter uncle, one who has no truck with the idea of independent women. When she wins a scholarship to study in Montreal, she reluctantly leaves her young lover for the freedom she knows she’ll never have in Karachi. There she finds liberation, fulfilment and adventure, eventually meeting Katherine with whom she shares a musical affinity. Katherine is the child of a white mother, jailed in 1940 when her baby daughter was a mere three months old for ‘incorrigible’ behaviour. Deserted by her Chinese father, life is tough for Katherine and her mother but, like Mahsa, music offers an escape. She carves out a place for herself, playing piano in a jazz band, pursuing music, love and family with a passionate determination. When these two meet, an indissoluble bond is formed which endures through love lost and won; marriage, arranged and otherwise; and raising children in the most difficult circumstances. Music is the breath of life to Katherine and Mahsa, running through their story like a constant yet ever-changing refrain.
Echlin takes her time, unfolding Katherine and Mahsa’s stories using alternating narratives to round out these very different characters through their distinctive voices: Katherine’s sharp, passionate and frenetic; Masha’s gentle, quietly determined, almost poetic at times. Race and identity inevitably flow through a novel in which each narrator is of mixed race but perhaps the strongest theme is the friendship to which they form a backdrop. This is an intensely romantic novel at times – there are four love stories running through it but the most powerful is the platonic fifth. It’s a complicated, nuanced portrait of a friendship between two strong women, able to withstand all that’s thrown at them from forced marriage to a philandering junkie husband, always finding their way to each other through music even when one fails to understand the other’s behaviour. There’s so much to admire about this novel, not least Echlin’s beautifully polished writing: marriage could be ‘playing solos at the same time and ending up together’ observes Katherine while ‘teenage boys are warriors without armour’ and her mother’s last days ’haunt me like a dark, unfading bruise’. So many striking phrases to quote but my favourite is Katherine’s pronouncement to Mahsa, still locked into her forced marriage: ‘The most radical thing a woman can do is live.’ Amen to that!
An Australian writer I love is Michelle de Kretser. The Hamilton Case, The Lost Dog. This last is especially brilliant.
Thanks for the tip, Christine. I read Questions of Travel – one of those post-9/11 novels – which I enjoyed so will look out for The Lost Dog.
Ah, yes, Susan, thanks, I knew there was another title of hers I wasn’t mentioning but forgot its name. I haven’t read it; not so keen on re-visiting 9/11. Lost Dog is grounded yet poetic. Beautiful. Stayed with me.
Inspired by Kim I signed up for the #Aww2016 reading challenge pledging I’d read 12 … Thanks to your review this will now be one of them.
Oh, dear, I think I’ve muddied the waters here, Poppy. This one’s a Canadian novel but I hope you’ll be able to fit it in sometime. It’s one of the best novels I’ve read this year.
Sorry – that’s my fault! Got interrupted reading this by kids … ordering it anyway as it sounds fab!
Delighted to hear that!
Wow! This book sounds fantastic! I’m so glad you posted about it. I definitely need to read it. Thanks!
It’s superb, Nadia! I hope you like it.
Your review of this is beautiful. Your last paragraph had me all choked up – I think I’ll be reading this sooner than I thought. The Disappeared is also good, but this one sounds even better.
One of the reasons I like to focus on Canadian content on my blog as much as possible is to bring a wider audience to some of those more obscure, not as well known writers we have here (even if some of their books are hard to get), so I really appreciate you pointing that out in your post. Thank you!
You’re very welcome, Naomi. I’m really enjoying discovering new writers (to me) through your blog and busy working up a justification for a Canadian holiday! Thank you so much for your kind words about my review. I had hopes for this one but it’s startlingly good. It’s only February but I already know it will be on my books of 2016 list, my Man Booker wish list and my (imminent) Baileys wishlist.
I checked my library to see if it has this book yet, but it doesn’t. I might have to add it to my wishlist instead!
Perhaps they might be persuaded to order it for you!
Normally they would, but our library is moving to a new location this spring, and anything but the basics has come to a halt until they are all settle in. It’s going to be a long haul for me, but looking on the bright side, I’m telling myself that I will be able to get more of my own books read. 🙂
I love Canadian fiction and am glad to have now discovered a blog where I can get recommendations. This sounds exactly my sort of book and definitely one to get hold of as soon as possible.
I hope it hits the spot, Alex. I discovered Naomi’s blog late last year and have been a regular visitor ever since. I’m sure you’ll find lots to entice you there.
Thanks for flagging up my Australian reading year, Susan. And I’m delighted to see Naomi mentioned here, as I’m a fan of her blog, because, I, too, love reading Canadian fiction, something that I’ve been doing more and more thanks to my involvement in the Shadow Giller. I read Kim Echlin’s The Disappeared a few years ago and really loved it, so I’ll be adding this one to my list — even if it means I have to wait until 2017 to read it! 😉
You’re welcome, Kim. I’m so pleased to have discovered Naomi’s blog. Lots of interesting posts to explore. I’m pretty sure you’ll think that Under the Visible Life was worth the wait when you get to it!
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