P.S. Duffy

It doesn't get any more flat or colourless than this. One would think, with all the inherent drama of WWI that this would ring with rage or pathos; instead, we are bored into insensibility for 366 pages. This is only a good representation of the horrors of World War I if the Allies won the war by boring their enemy to death.

I should have been in full alert by page 73: "... Hanson and Tanner sat solemnly popping lice eggs off their uniforms with lit matches. Two others beyond them were show more hunched over, staring dumbly at the ground in a waking sleep." I'm not sure if I'm the one popping lice eggs or whether I'm one of those who sits in a stupor, but either way, I related to these lines. When you hit this page, you've reached the zenith of excitement in this novel.

Father, son, grand-son, brother-in-law are cardboard cut-outs: archetypal, platitudinous characters who spew mundane (and moth-eaten) truisms, fulfilling their respective destinies as the nonsense characters that they are. Nonsense, in its true form, being of "no sense" at all.

The ephemeral Hettie, who is presumably meant to portray a romantic feminine figure whose spirit is too good for this world, comes across simply as a blithering idiot. Ebbin isn't far behind, so perhaps this is merely a family trait.

I found the historical setting to be exotic and yet precise -- so precise, in fact, that it reads like someone is copying it straight out of an encyclopedia. Dates, numbers of fallen warriors, weather, number of rats in the trenches, and depth of mud: all items gleaned and reproduced, almost in list-fashion, from the pages of Britannica. (Many have spoken of Duffy's "exhaustive research" but I can't find anything more in-depth than I would find in any encyclopedia.)

I predict great things for this novel: it's just the sort of thing that will end up on Canada Reads as the exhaustive, quintessential Exemplar of Canadian Literature -- and it makes me shudder for the future of CanLit. We are all too afraid to call a spade a shovel in this country. show less

The Cartographer of No Man's Land is an engrossing and beautifully written novel of how the war affects the men in the trenches as well as the families left behind. Angus MacGrath is the captain of the Lauralee, a Canadian coastal trader as well as a talented, but unknown artist. When the news arrives that his brother-in-law and best friend, Ebbin, is missing in action in France, Angus is devastated by his wife's despondency at the loss of her brother. Leaving behind his young son, Simon show more Peter, and against the wishes of his pacifist father, Angus enlists. He is promised that his navigation and artistic skills will keep him in the safety of London as a behind-the-lines cartographer. Once in London he is sent to the front lines as a replacement officer due to the staggering personnel losses. In alternating chapters we move back and forth from the battlefields of France to Snag Harbor, Nova Scotia where we follow the story through the eyes of young Simon Peter MacGrath.

The battle scenes are terrifyingly real and there is a richly detailed recreation of how trench warfare was fought. The author does a wonderful job of illustrating the friendships the soldiers share when their lives are in constant jeopardy. I had no idea of the losses suffered by Canadians during the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The author wrote a detailed account of Vimy using well-researched historical fact and blending in the fictional account of Angus and his fellow soldiers.

I enjoyed the Snag Harbor chapters and loved the ethical and patriotic Simon Peter and how he wants to stand up for the abused, both horses and people. The real draw for me was Angus' story. When he first gets to France he's so afraid. There is the constant threat of screaming artillery shells exploding around him and clouds of poison gas everywhere. He wants to find Ebbin but even more, he wants to get home to Hettie and Simon Peter. Throughout the book we see him becoming stronger and developing a love and respect for his men as he tries to keep them all safe.

I was completely immersed in this beautifully told story about the sacrifices people make and how we all need to help one another heal. show less

There’s no real reason for Angus MacGrath, a Nova Scotia coastal shipping captain, to enlist in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1916. Canada has no conscription; Angus, a onetime seminarian, has a wife and teenage boy; he’s an artist, so the natural beauty of his home matters to him; and there’s no pressure to join up. In fact, his father, Duncan, is a pacifist, so Angus should be primed to sit out the war.

Yet Angus’s brother-in-law, his closest friend, has been missing in action show more in France, and Angus wishes to search for him. An officer Angus knows assures him that his mapmaking skills will secure him a desk job in London, from which he figures to make inquiries. Nobody’s happy. Duncan’s furious, and Hettie Ellen, Angus’s withdrawn wife, gives merely tacit approval, hardly a rousing endorsement. Their son, Simon, who craves closeness from his father, tries to keep a stiff upper lip.

Turns out there’s no room in the cartography department—who could have guessed?—and Angus is made a lieutenant of infantry, a job for which he’s unprepared. However, to his surprise, he becomes a capable field leader, befriends his brother officers despite his natural aloofness, and gains the respect of his men. Gradually, his search for his brother-in-law takes on epic proportions.

Meanwhile, back in Nova Scotia, Simon tries to assert his independence, especially from his tyrannical grandfather, Duncan. Simon keeps a scrapbook of newspaper articles on the war and casts his father as a hero. He also befriends his favorite teacher, a German-born polymath, testament to the tolerance he’s learned at home and his ability to think for himself. Ominously, Simon’s friends and neighbors show neither quality.

The Cartographer of No Man’s Land is a lovely novel, the more remarkable for being Duffy’s first; and as a historian of the First World War and a reader familiar with its fiction, I can attest to its authenticity. Duffy has researched her ground meticulously, but spending years in libraries and archives doesn’t guarantee a gripping narrative. Still, I defy anyone to find a dull, wasted page in this extraordinary tale. And much as I salute the author’s impressive grasp of detail, it’s how she deploys her knowledge that counts. Moreover, her seductive prose takes you by the hand and shows you what she wants you to see

Duffy effortlessly captures the camaraderie of men at war, the search for meaning amid the violence, the tension and release of battle. Even readers who shy away from such stories may find much to keep them glued to this one. For those interested, Duffy has re-created the Battle of Vimy Ridge in Arras, a source of such national pride in Canada that she feared to tackle it, she writes. However, her authorial bravery pays off, and the novel must rank among the best from recent years about the First World War.

Oddly, though, her home-front narrative feels somewhat less compelling. It belongs, because Duffy links the parallel journeys of father and son, as each strives to understand who he is. But Duffy’s soldiers steal the show, hands down. Hettie Ellen's inner life never comes through (perhaps Angus might agree), and none of the women leave an echo behind them, except one in a cameo role. They’re not stick figures, by any means, just less full than the fighters. The home-front men do better than the women, but few have much scope, and though the Canada story has its moments, it doesn't reach as high.

Nevertheless, The Cartographer of No Man’s Land is a very fine novel and an excellent addition to First World War literature. show less

I won a copy of The Cartographer on No Man’s Land back in the early Fall 2014 from Shelf Awareness. Immediately, I read the first couple of chapters. As I read, I knew that this was a book that I want to save until holiday vacation time. The beauty and depth of those first chapters made me aware that this was not a novel to be rushed through---although at times it was tough---but to be savored and enjoyed. This debut novel is all those things…and more

It’s 1917. World War I is raging show more across Europe, especially in the trenches in France. Back in Nova Scotia, Angus McGrath sails the coasts fishing and hauling as his father has done before. Ebbin, his brother-in-law, joined up and hasn’t been heard from in months. His wife, Hettie, is beside herself with grief.

Angus enlists, going in search of Ebbin. He has been assured that he will not be in the thick of battle, but that he will be behind the lines, probably based in London as a cartographer. This surprises Angus as no one has ever thought his drawings were good.

Seems the Canadian recruiters are much like the American recruiters. They’ll promise young people anything to get them to sign on the dotted line. Needless to say, Angus winds up in the trenches, where replacement officers are needed.

Readers will get a true sense of war from this story. The landscape is decimated and dangerous by bomb craters, divided by the trenches and barbwire. The towns and farms are deserted. Forests are charred. Artillery shells burst around and over the soldiers. Clouds of gas roil obstruct the ghastly view.

Oscillating between Angus’s point of view and what’s happening back home, readers can almost get a true sense of the war and its toll on the families.

Although Duffy is a journalist, this haunting, debut novel is beautifully written and seductive as it pulls readers further and further into the story. I would give The Cartographer of No Man’s Land six stars if I could. show less