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Toronto writer Catherine Bush made quite a splash with her first novel,
Minus Time, which was shortlisted for the Smith/Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Toronto Book Award in 1994. Like its predecessor,
The Rules of Engagement advertises its author as a savvy inhabitant of the global village. Arcadia Hearne, the protagonist, an expert on war, sits in a nice little institute and her cozy London flat pontificating on the world's trouble spots. Enter her sister Lux, a globetrotting celebrity VJ, with an appeal to help an actual refugee, and Arcadia's world is turned upside down. Could she be hiding from life? For Arcadia, friends and lovers are fellow duellists from whom one always eventually withdraws. We follow her back to Toronto and to her youth, to the origin of this emotional block.
In this well-crafted, even gripping read, Bush draws us inexorably through a web of beautiful vistas and clever wordplay toward the denouement. It is, however, a risky exercise--the writing and the plot teeter between great art and utter pretension. The writer might have pulled it off, were said denouement anywhere near as fulfilling as she leads us to believe. Unfortunately writing is a bit like sex (an activity well covered here): without a real climax, the most brilliant foreplay is nothing but a tease. --Robyn Gillam
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Eloquent and thoughtful, Bush's second novel (after Minus Time) uses the twin motifs of war and intervention to explore the nature of trust, responsibility and personal risk. The protagonist, Arcadia Hearne, is a 31-year-old Canadian expatriate now residing in London, where she works for the Centre for Contemporary War Studies. Arcadia receives a visit from her younger sister, Lux, host of a world music show seen globally. Lux introduces her to Basra Alale, a beautiful Somalian refugee and songwriter, who in turn introduces Arcadia to Amir Barmour, an Iranian teacher/translator/print-shop-worker. As Arcadia enters into a cautious relationship with Amir, flashbacks reveal details of her past romances. We learn that during her college years in Toronto, Arcadia had two lovers: the passionate, nihilistic Evan Biederman and Neil Laurier, a free-spirited but pretentious philosophy student. When Arcadia leaves Evan for Neil, an embittered Evan challenges his rival to a duel. Inexplicably, the laid-back Neil accepts. Arcadia learns of her lovers' mad plans, but finds herself unable to bring herself to intervene. The duel goes ahead as planned, Neil is badly wounded and a grief-stricken Arcadia flees the country, intent on putting as much distance as possible between herself and the source of her guilt. In heavy-handed fashion, Bush draws provocative parallels between Arcadia's war-related work at the Centre and the more immediate violence that she has experienced in her own life. Although the novel is gracefully written, pensive and dignified, it is hurt by Arcadia's cool, often aloof personality, which prevents the reader from engaging emotionally with her. Consequently, what could have been a devastating look at the symbolic confluences of personal and global conflict never catches fire.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
