By Larissa Page
Imagine your life story, the whole being of who you are, being told to someone through the eyes and lives of ten people who were close to you during different points in your life.
That is how we meet Astra. From her father who nearly flees before her birth, to a childhood playmate, to the adults who come in and out of her life as she moves from the rundown commune where she was raised in the wilderness of British Columbia. Different parts of Astra’s life are told to us tangentially, with the subject of each chapter being the focus, while their lives intersect with Astra’s in various ways. All in, this gives us a complete cast of characters instead of just the singular Astra.
Simply put, this novel is incredible. It is incredible for a few reasons.
First of all, the concept is unlike anything I’ve read before. To be told from ten different voices and have none of them be the voice of Astra herself (until the epilogue) but yet to have the novel itself be about Astra was a feat of excellent writing to say the least. Each of the ten characters has their own personality, quirks, background, and distinct being, and each of those ten is clearly displayed in their brief section of this novel. I felt like I understood each of them, their struggles and their joys that were shown to me through their interactions and lives lived with Astra. Each of the characters grows through their interactions with Astra, some improving themselves, some revealing their true desires, and some discovering hidden parts of themselves.
Second, I knew Astra. Astra is so well developed as a character by the descriptions and views of other people, and by the way she interacts with them. The reader gets a sense of her without ever hearing from Astra herself. Her character growth as she ages is also incredibly apparent, with the gaps between what we see sometimes spanning many years. At most we only get to see glimpses of Astra over the course of several decades, yet we are given a heroine of her own life, well developed and full of growth.
Another reason this book was such a great read was because it was thought-provoking. I was constantly considering how such a concept would be applied to my own life. Who would be the ten voices to tell my stories? How would I be represented in each of their stories? How are other people’s lives affected by my being in them? Am I helping to improve the lives of those with whom I am related? These were not questions I expected to be asking myself and yet I was so incredibly intrigued by them. With this sort of reflection, I can see growth within myself, which means this novel has positively affected my life as a whole, which only the best literature does.
I couldn’t wait to get back to this novel every time I put it down. The character development of each individual character, plus Astra herself, was so well done, and the concept ultimately had me reevaluating my own interactions with the people in my life. I hope to see Astra and Cedar Bowers in the upcoming season of Canadian and women’s book awards because I absolutely believe they deserve it.
*Thank you to McClelland & Stewart for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!