Last Night in Montreal, by Emily St. John Mandel
This is a sad book about a lost soul, and about people whose ability to cope consists of running away.
Back when she was a child, Lilia Albert's father abducted her. Well, perhaps abduct is too strong a word. Actually, he showed up at her house in the middle of the night, she went with him willingly, and both disappeared.
They spent their days driving around the United States and Canada, briefly living in motels and campgrounds, before heading out again. They lived on the road, changing their names and identities, rarely staying anywhere for more than a few days at a time. Lilia's father taught her wile he cruised the backroads. Freedom, to both of them, meant driving away.
Why this happened is not yet explained.
Then we fast-forward to the present day, and Lilia is living the hipster life in Brooklyn with Eli, an academic who is losing his taste for academia. One day, Lilia tells Eli she is going to the grocery store. As is her wont, she never returns. Eli, after getting word she is in Montreal, goes after her.
Thus, the scene is set for back-and-forth flashbacks of Lilia on the road, Eli trying to find her, the emerging backstory of her disappearance and years growing up, and the arrival of a private investigator with a growing obsession about finding her. It's a daring way to write a novel, stopping one character's perspective to bring in a second, then a third, and a fourth. But soon, you see them coming together to form a cohesive, compelling narrative.
It's a thoughtful tale about lonely people who only think about leaving, driving off, or running away. It's what they do. It's what they must do. It's not a coincidence that the book references Icarus, who, when given wings to fly, responded by taking it too far -- both literally and figuratively. Icarus, of course, met his end of getting too close to the sun, and suffering the consequences.
Lilia, Eli, and other characters, all of whom have taken a good idea too far, also meet the various consequences of their actions.
It's a thoughtful tale about lonely people who only think about leaving, driving off, or running away. It's what they do. It's what they must do. It's not a coincidence that the book references Icarus, who, when given wings to fly, responded by taking it too far -- both literally and figuratively. Icarus, of course, met his end of getting too close to the sun, and suffering the consequences.
Lilia, Eli, and other characters, all of whom have taken a good idea too far, also meet the various consequences of their actions.
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