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Product Description
Review
—Robert J. Wiersema, Victoria Times-Colonist
“David Adams Richards’ 14th novel brilliantly scours the conscience of a community. . . . [He] moves deftly between the multiple voices and points of view . . . [and] never fails to capture the right details to a scene. . . . That Richards can consistently bring such potentially mawkish figures to vivid life is just one reason to keep reading him.”
—Quill & Quire (starred review)
“In a stark, stunning and profound new novel, New Brunswick’s David Adams Richards (Mercy Among the Children, Nights Below Station Street) exposes Canada’s rawest nerve. . . . the construction of this novel is brilliantly conceived, and flawlessly executed. This is Richards at the height of his powers, which is very high indeed. The word masterpiece is not too strong.”
—National Post (Donna Bailey Nurse)
“In his masterful new novel, David Adams Richards shows why it matters who explains the complicated relationships between whites and Natives in his beloved Miramichi. . . . Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul is remarkable for a tightly woven, multi-layered plot and the minute detailing of a way of life that is disappearing in New Brunswick.”
—National Post (John Racovali)
“[Incidents in the Life of] Markus Paul is a solid offering with timely insight from one of Canada’s most acclaimed storytellers.”
—Winnipeg Free Press
“. . . the searing emotion and stirring probity we have come to expect of an author fighting to stave off anachronism’s claim to right and wrong, good and evil. . . . the characters themselves, who could have been frozen into moral archetypes . . . attain a welcome level of complexity. . . . Richards’s larger picture includes a moral lesson at once topical and timeless.”
—The Globe and Mail
“Delving into race, politics, corruption, police work, media and the power of public opinion, the novel is a superb rendering of our propensity to confuse charisma with wisdom and judgment with justice.”
—London Free Press
“David Adams Richards' latest thrills with small-town suspense and mystery. . . . Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul is a page-turning thriller delivered by Richards in his finest form yet. The who, why and hows surrounding Hector's death, and the deaths that follow, pile up like pulp logs that drop on the reader's head in a series of stunning surprises.”
—Telegraph-Journal
Book Description
Highly charged and profoundly important, Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul is a new masterpiece from one of Canada’s greatest writers.
On a bright morning in June 1985, a young Micmac man starts his first day of work—but by noon he is dead, killed mysteriously in the fourth hold of the cargo ship Lutheran. Hector Penniac had been planning to go to university, perhaps to study medicine. Roger Savage, a loner who has had to make his own way since his youth, comes under suspicion of killing Hector over a union card and a morning’s work. Even if he can’t quite put it into words, Roger immediately sees the ways in which Hector’s death will be viewed as symbolic, as more than an isolated tragedy—and that he is caught in a chain of events that will become more explosive with each passing day.
The aging chief of Hector’s band, Amos Paul, tries to reduce the tensions raised by the investigation into Hector’s death and its connection to a host of other simmering issues, from territorial lines to fishing rights. His approach leads him into conflict with Isaac Snow, a younger and more dynamic man whom many in the band would prefer to lead them—especially when the case attracts press attention in the form of an ambitious journalist named Max Doran, the first of many outsiders to bring his own agenda and motives onto the Micmac reserve. Joel Ginnish, Isaac’s volatile and sometimes violent friend, decides to bring justice to Roger Savage when the authorities refuse to, blockading the reserve in order to do so. And though perhaps no one really means for it to happen, soon a single incident grows ineluctably into a crisis that engulfs a whole society, a whole province and in some ways a whole country.
Twenty years later, RCMP officer Markus Paul—Chief Amos Paul’s grandson, who was fifteen years old when Hector was killed—tries to piece together the clues surrounding Hector Penniac’s death. The decades have passed, and much about the case has been twisted beyond recognition by the many ways that different people have sought to exploit it. But, haunted by the past, Markus still struggles towards a truth that will snap “those chains that had once seemed impossible to break.” (290)
This is a novel that begins with an instant from today’s headlines, and digs down into the marrow to explore the oldest themes we know: murder and betrayal, race and history, the brutal and chaotic forces that guide the groups we are drawn into. Nothing is one-sided in David Adams Richards’ world—even the most scheming characters have moments of grace, while the most benevolent are shown to have selfish motives, or the need to show off their goodness. All are depicted with an almost Biblical gravity, framed by an understated genius of storytelling that makes this novel at once both an utterly gripping mystery, and a vitally important document of Canada’s broken past and divided present.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another great David Adams Richards book,
This review is from: Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul (Hardcover)
I thoroughly enjoyed this book - once again I couldn't set it down - for some reason the interaction between all the characters was superb and kept my interest from start to finish. I hope this author keeps on creating these masterpieces for years to come.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Strong novel about real human problems,
By
This review is from: Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul (Hardcover)
David Adams Richards is one of those novelists who seems to keep writing the same novel over and over. It seems, though, that this is because he is trying to get it better every time, rather than because he can't come up with good ideas. Richards wrestles with old ideas in his book and considers how they apply to the world as it is and to people as they are. This book is based around the tragic death of a native at a shipyard, which appears to be suspicious. The local reserve, the press and others in the community all try to use the event to their own ends, which most tragically results in a lack of interest in the truth. These people are never caricatures, though, and that's where Richards' experience as a writer really shines through. Ultimately these are all human beings, trying to live what seems to be a good life, in the world as it really is.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Incidents is worth your time,
By
This review is from: Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul (Hardcover)
Richards' novel begins with the death of Hector, a young First Nations man, working his first labour job on a ship. He is saving to go to med school. Initially, it is suspected that Roger Savage, a white man, accidentally caused the death. Very quickly, however, people suspect that Roger - a more experienced labourer, angry that an Indian got the job over him - intentionally killed Hector. Richards weaves a plot where the reserve's chief is sceptical of Roger's culpability and loses the respect of his people, who realize this white man will not be charged. Here we see how the death of one man becomes a symbol of treaty and land disputes, leadership and control, media exploitation, and the power of rumour and innuendo.Richards presents a few ideas to consider about power dynamics. The first significant theme is that identifying a person of privilege is difficult. Racial disputes between whites and First Nations people drive the book. People from both groups are victims and both are perpetrators of abuse. The story Richards presents is that anyone with power can manipulate people. This book is full of tragedy. Much of the tragedy begins with people thinking they are doing the right thing as they fight for change. Instead, villainy escalates to create new villains. A second theme that Richards presents is that it is important for privileged people to stand alongside the weak; there is not a clear formula for doing so, however. Even identifying who is weak - who deserves the support of the privileged - is complex and Richards shows that the consequences of misidentification can be dire. It is possible for a powerful but just person to become a tyrant without even knowing it. As a "social justice Christian" and Maritimer, I found Richards' book to be a sobering warning. Like many of the educated and elite (who are typically white) characters in Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul, I tend to jump on traditionally liberal bandwagons. Like these characters, I want to right wrongs, but am often surprised at how little I know about the fight I am in if I try to describe it. Also like many of these characters, I can become so enmeshed in doing the right thing that I don't stop to actually think about what the right thing is. Richards shows that my desire is dangerous if I am not critically engaged as I fight "the good fight." I was also intrigued by Richards' demonstration of how murky the line is between justice and revenge. All of the characters see Hector's death as tragic and everyone wants some sort of retribution. Amos Paul, the chief, personifies justice. He seems to be the most affected by Hector's death, but also does not want to persecute Roger. If nothing else, Amos does not want to blame Roger if he is innocent. Joel Ginnish, Hector's half-brother, personifies revenge. His brother's death is quite simple. A white man is guilty and he won't be prosecuted. Joel's desire is for immediate action and Amos is simply in the way. The murkiness comes from Isaac Snow. Isaac - sure of Roger's guilt - wants to see justice for a member of his community. It becomes easy to question his motives, however. He is a political rival to Amos and seems easily swayed by Joel. These motives are balanced against the desire to do what is right instead of only what is popular. Isaac's own reactions contradict his other reactions. This complexity makes him the most interesting element to Incidents.
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