A Secret Between Us

"A Secret Between Us" is a beautiful book, to me. I was caught by surprise at how Daniel Poliquin weaved in sensitivity and tenderness in his depiction of longings, convincingly as monologues from a war veteran character who was at times lost and confused. Having recently read Claire Holden Rothman's "The Heart Specialist" which also portrays the Canadian story setting in the early 1900s (WWI) following a strong willed female character, the male protagonist in "A Secret Between Us" is a fascinating contrast.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is one man's story showing his loves, weaknesses, faults and talents. His life is one that includes many characters but four main characters that come in and out of his life and are all connected, unknowingly. The story takes you from his home to WW1 and then back to Canada and his wandering mainly between a by-gone Ottawa and a town near Montreal. The characters are all lost souls, in my opinion, but if you were to ask them I think they would deny it.
I wish I could have read the book in it's original language, French, because I feel that in the translation a flow was missing. Nevertheless it was enjoyable and I can understand why is was a Giller Prize finalist.

In some ways, 'A Secret Between Us,' reminded me of Somorset Maugham's 'The Razor's Edge,' in that it was very much a character study novel (though the Canadian landscape itself seemed as much a character as the people). The characters, most especially the narrator, orbited one character barely in the book, whose impact on them changed them forever.

Set against the backdrop of WW I, the story undulates with a 'there and back again' feel - characters are forever marked, and move in cycles and circles that they can't quite seem to break. It's nearly painful in places to listen to the main character's voice, a drunk with failing mental health and a jaded, broken view of love, faith, and life.

Ultimately, the characters are a worthy reading experience, and the cycles begin to grow into a larger pattern that flows to a conclusion that I enjoyed. This wasn't an "easy" read, but I did enjoy the whole.

The book on a whole was very good, but I think some of the idiosyncrasies of the characters were lost in the translation. There were times when I had to force myself to continue to read. However, the last chapters were fantastic and I wanted to keep reading.