| Title | : | Surface Rights |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 145970715X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781459707153 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 296 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2013 |
Middle-aged Verna Macoun Woodcock returns to the family cottage for the first time in 38 years to scatter the ashes of her husband, father, and twin sister. At first she is alone except for her dad’s dog, the lake, bitter memories, and a barely hidden drinking problem. But soon Verna is forced to open up her tightly shut world to others: strong-willed handywoman Winonah; the neglected children of her sister, each lost and broken in their own way; even the ghost of Winonah’s dead brother, Lionel, who can't seem to make it to the Sky World.
Just as Verna is starting to accept this newfound family, she discovers a menacing prospector who posts a notice on the cottage door, stating his intention to dig for ore. As it turns out, the Macouns hold the surface rights for the land, but not the mineral rights. For the first time in her life, Verna has something to fight for and family at stake.
Surface Rights Reviews
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Surface Rights has many of the elements that I look for when purchasing a book: a strong female lead, a cast of weird and wonderful supporting characters, and a story line (plus a couple of engaging subplots) that kept me guessing until the end. A bonus was the setting, a rundown family cottage in the wilderness, so dear and familiar to Canadian hearts. This is the type of novel to read beside a cozy fireplace, or dangling your feet off the pier in front of your own cottage.
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I really enjoyed this book. However, I debated between three and four stars on it, but ultimately, GR will not allow half stars and I really enjoyed the book.
What I liked:
>The characters were well developed.
-I am not sure if I liked them all, and know many I did not like all of the time, but I am pretty sure that I was not supposed to like them all all of the time
-this liking-not-liking shows the depth and complexity of the characters
-Hardy created real-seeming people
>The setting in Northern Ontario, which was depicted so very well and accurately
>The inclusion of the ghost
>The inclusion of First Nations characters and lore
-I liked the characters
-I am uncertain how accurate the lore is
>The storyline
-this book is both character- and plot-driven
-I enjoyed the plot and the interweaving of the main story with those of the various characters in the book
-enough plots and interweaving to keep it interesting but not so much to get bogged down
>The well-craftedness and balance in the book
-Hardy wrote a well-crafted, balanced book
-character development balanced with plot
-mystical elements grounded in the gritty realities in which the characters live
-liking and disliking of the people in the book
-the love and caution and jealousies and other emotions that the characters have for themselves and each other
Things that bothered me:
>how would someone in the middle of no where, who is not from the area, and who apparently has no vehicle, find a garage sale, get a tent, and discover that it is leaky all in two days' time when there was no rain in those two days?
>I am pretty sure that mayfly larvae do not live in benthos that is 60+ feet deep.
-there is little research on this topic, but mayflies do tend to prefer shallower, warmer waters
-at least, in the very many benthic invertebrate samplings that I have been part of this is what we found...
-yes, it sounds all romantic and brainy to include in the book, but for someone (me) who knows/suspects better it is pretty jarring
OK, so just those two points bothered me but they were at the end so also stuck with me as I write this review.
Overall, this is a well-crafted, enjoyable read with enough depth to keep it interesting but not so much to bog it down. I will look up other work by this author. Four, solid stars :D -
The family cottage in Surface Rights is as much a character as any of the other eccentric and always interesting characters populating this instantly engaging northern Ontario story.
Verna sets off on a sad and solitary mission to her multi-generation family cottage near the fictional town of Greater Gammage near Timmins, Ontario. Travelling with her are the “cremains” of her twin sister, father, and ex-husband, and her father’s dog Jude, a very much alive Labrador retriever. Loaded down with family baggage, yet seemingly without a family, Verna must spread the ashes and prepare the cottage for sale.
So much for aloneness, and for sadness, when she meets kind-hearted, wise and very large Carmen, the cottage real estate agent. In typical small-town fashion, Carmen notifies others that Verna, a member of the Macoun clan, is in the area, and this gets the ball rolling. Winonah, a First Nations handywoman, pays a visit during one of Verna’s blistering hangovers, and brings along her brother, who isn’t all there - turns out, he’s a ghost. The cottage begins to swell with visitors, human, or ghostly, and sometimes unwanted - it becomes a magnet for damaged and suffering souls.
At the heart of the story are the circumstances surrounding the mysterious death of Fern, Verna’s twin sister, and the unconventional, feckless life leading to it. Fern's three children, all from different fathers and living apart, arrive, and we learn the details of their complicated childhoods.
Verna faces hard truths about her relationship with her sister, her husband, and her propensity for booze. But for all the seriousness, Surface Rights is darkly funny, and fuelled by this unlikely group of characters and their crackling dialogue, the story sweeps along with surprises, humour and insight into complicated and very real human relationships.
The cottage in Surface Rights burgeons with family life, in all its complexity - sad, funny, ugly, terrifying, crazy, but ultimately filled with love. -
(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I wasn't entirely sure what to make of this book when I first picked it up. I knew what the blurb said, of course, but upon finishing reading this, I think the blurb didn't exactly do this justice.
I felt that there was a lot going on in this book, though it wasn't really that confusing. The characters were interesting and came across as really well-rounded - though Romy annoyed me a lot. It was her attitude more than anything else.
The ghost thing was pretty cool, though I still don't know if Lionel was really there, or just a hallucination brought on by Verna doing drugs and becoming high.
There was quite a sense of family running through this book, whether through blood or bonds formed through shared experiences - at least in my opinion.
I especially liked how Verna talked to Jude as if he could understand her. I think animals are far more intelligent than people give them credit for.
I found the book to be really well-written and the sensitive issues seemed to be handled particularly well. I would definitely look at more books by this author in the future. -
***RECEIVED FROM FIRST READS GIVEAWAY***
Verna is a middle aged lonely women who has gone to her family cottage to spread the ashes of her husband, sister and father. She believes herself to be alone in the world except for her fathers dog Jude and dreads going to the cottage because of the memories they invoke. But the events that occur when she gets there takes her through a spiritual journey to help her get over her demons and find peace and acceptance with her lot. I found her to be a wonderful character, deep and with lots of conflicting emotions. I especially liked her bluntness on the subject of her husband. This didn't really pick up for me but by the time Lionel and Romy make an appearance I couldn't put it down. -
Argh. Such a promising start. The plot meandered, and Hardy's opportunity to turn this into something higher than "chick lit" was lost around the sixty-fifth page. However, if you're someone who likes dogs and has had a rash of deaths in your family, you'll probably be drawn to this one. Her prose is crisp, and she will produce better work, I'm sure. Promising writer.
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Hi, Everyone! Please check out my interview with author Melissa Hardy as we discuss her latest novel, Surface Rights (Dundurn Press, 2013). Read the interview and an excerpt from the book on my TTQ Blog now.
http://thetorontoquarterly.blogspot.c... -
Northern Ontario is dark and mysterious. Features ghosts, literally, and of one's past.
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Surface Rights is darkly comic, with a colourful cast of characters. It's fast-paced and funny!
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it took me awhile to get INTO this book but as each additional character was added...I LOVED IT. My favorite was probably Lionel. Totally recommend this one.
