Writing a novel about an Alzheimer’s patient presents some challenges. Readers can’t help but be affected by the unsettling
fear of the disease inspires (“That could be me, some day”), by pity for the victim of the disease, and by the impossible likelihood of a happy ending. Yet with all these disadvantages, Peter Riddle has created a book that is by times engrossing, compelling, and gently humourous.
Andrew Striker, a
professor at Acadia, had always been known for his flawless memory. A lapse in recall during a lecture one day is the first step toward his eventual diagnosis with Alzheimer’s. Frustration, fear, and denial finally give way to acceptance and a resolve not to let his family suffer with him. He arranges his financial affairs and leaves without giving away his destination, planning to live out his life in seclusion on Nova Scotia’s South Shore. In spite of his determination, however, he finds himself drawn into the lives of two other strong-willed characters: Jennie, a lonely, manipulative child; and Nadia, an ambitious, compassionate teenaged waitress.
Such a bald retelling does not at all reflect the pattern of the book, because Peter Riddle tells the story in a series of flashbacks. Beginning a year after Andrew has run away, the book intersperses
present-day actions with recollections from the previous year, so that we don’t learn the full back story until the book is almost done.
In order to separate the two narratives, the author writes the present story in the present tense and the flashbacks in the past tense. In theory, this should help to differentiate between the two stories, but I found it surprisingly difficult to read large chunks of a novel written in the present tense. It must also be hard to write consistently in the present tense, as I noticed Mr. Riddle slipped a few times, making his use of the technique even more confusing.
This book supports the truism that writers write best when they write about what they know. As a professor at Acadia himself, Mr. Riddle is dead-on in his depictions of the rhythms that dominate the life of a professor who has been in the profession for decades.
He portrays the novel’s other setting so flawlessly that it’s tempting to think this book’s primary purpose is to showcase the fabulous South Shore of Nova Scotia. From Andrew’s first walk on the beach where he encounters Jennie and her starfish to his last walk in a blinding squall, the shore is almost another character in the story. As well, the descriptions of the houses, the tea shops, and the people are wonderful word-paintings that convey the authentic flavour of the original.
The main actor in this drama has that same authenticity. The establishing of Andrew Striker as a character and the portrayal of his decline is heartbreakingly real. Some of the other characters lack this vital force and come close to being stereotypes--the supportive wife, the old-friend-of-the-family doctor, the gruff but kindly vet. Jennie presents the particular problem of creating believable dialogue for a child without falling into clichés. She comes alive slowly, becoming more and more genuine as the book nears its climax.
It is difficult to anticipate how a book like this will end. I could not really believe in a happy ending, but, having made such an emotional investment in the characters, I was looking for some sort of resolution. The actual conclusion had me turning last few pages and wondering where the rest of the book was. I was left with a feeling of no closure after a rather bizarre episode, which marred an otherwise beguiling book.