Jack Lewis is from Windsor, Ontario, a border town across the St. Clair river from Detroit, Michigan. Borders are regularly crossed in Windsor — over to Detroit to partake of the jazz clubs and from The Settlement over to the whiter parts of town. Jack’s real name is Jackson. That’s what his mother calls him. His father, William Henry, hardly knows what to call him, a boy so light he might just be white. And white is just what Jack thinks of himself as. So much so that he spends a fair portion of his self-narrative in a losing game of white washing. But how can he white wash his father? He can’t. So he’s got to go where no one has any inkling of the mixing that occurs, sometimes, in Windsor. Newfoundland.

In Newfoundland, during WWII, Jack takes up with Vivian. She loves him for his charm, his good looks (like Frank Sinatra), and for his music (he sings and plays trombone in a band). Vivian isn’t entirely certain Jack is all that he says he is, or rather isn’t, since he is not forthcoming about his origins. But she loves him enough to marry him anyway. Once the war ends, the navy sends Jack and Vivian back to Jack’s home town. Surely Vivian is due for a bit of eye opening. But will Jack’s own eyes and heart be opened as well?

This first novel had a long gestation. Some of that shows in how well-honed parts of it are. Some of it shows in a disjointedness in the narrative, as though disparate narrative tranches have been stitched together. Some of it shows in periodic heavy-handedness. Well, it’s a first novel and maybe that can be expected. Of course for many the relationship between the story and author’s personal history will supersede any consideration of the novel as fiction. But perhaps a work of non-fiction would have been more satisfying in that case. ( )

I live in the city this book was set; I knew very little of the history it tells. I learned so much - a history lesson.I enjoyed this unique story. I never had any doubt about my heritage, now I see the dilemma of not understanding who you are and not embracing your heritage and the self doubt it can create. ( )

This just didn't do it for me. I don't know if it was because I felt like there wasn't anything in the story I could relate to or if I just found the characters unlikeable... But not my cup of tea. In fact, I'm not entirely sure why I'm even keeping it.... ( )

This was a book that was recommended to me, and when I read that it was set around WWII and steeped in the jazz and be bop movement that was popular at that time, I just couldn't resist it. When I found out that it was also a book that made the 2013 Giller prize long list and was nominated a Globe and Mail Best Book, I knew I had to read it. The book is about much more than WWII and the big band and jazz era. It is a book about families, and father and son relationships. It's a book about Canada and how we differ from our neighbours to the south. But the more we're different from them, the more we are the same it appears. I did not realize that Canada had it's own civil rights movement even one hundred odd years after the American war between the States and Emancipation Day. Even today there are many people living in Canada who deal with race and cultural issues on a daily basis. We have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go to achieve true equality in this country. This book shows us the anguish of children and people trying to fit in, through the eyes of one little boy. This little boy is 18 when the story opens, but in flashbacks we see this confused little boy as he grew up in Windsor, Ontario. We see his anguish as he determines that he has to escape his family and home life in order to find a place where he might finally feel like he belonged. We see the family that he leaves behind as they struggle to come to terms with the needs of this their youngest child. A young girl from Newfoundland is drawn into this family drama because she meets and falls in love with Jack. When she goes with Jack to visit his family home in Windsor, Vivian comes face to face with a Jack she never knew existed. Her life is forever changed, and she must find the strength to deal with the new reality that has come to her life. This is a book that definitely made me stop and think. I enjoyed it very much. ( )

This ensemble narrated book, based in the 40s and 50s really hit something inside of me, surprising me and pulling me in. Each character, given their own narrative had their own unique point of view of events that happened, giving a full fleshed out picture of what happens when someone might not be willing to accept who they are. It reflects the length we go to as people, to possibly escape our pasts, but inevitably some pieces of it end up engrained in our future.

It is easy to tell that this book, in some ways is autobiographical, and it is so well written that all of the characters become people to sympathize with. Whether it’s Jack, who really is a little boy lost, not matter what decisions he tries to make. Or Vivian who is so naive and yet one of the warmer characters in the novel. William Henry was the one who I felt the most sympathy for, as he made wrong decisions, left and right and didn’t quite know what to make of his son until it was far too late.

It was also a good, albeit sad reflection of racial relations in both the U.S and Canada which really fleshed out the realism in the book.

This book also made me fall in love with it because it is a Canadian novel, with settings so close to me, and the area I live in. It was simply a well written, well woven tale.

Good for:

Those who love a good historical book with a strong basis in reality. ( )