Tall tales galore

Multi-generational novels of the sort James Mitchener and Edward Rutherfurd are known for are a different kind of story, being several stories in one. Characters come and go. They grow up, grow old and die, leaving children and grandchildren to take over the narrative. What usually stays the same is the place where all this happens.

In the case of Michael Crummey’s Galore (2009), that place is Paradise Deep on the coast of Newfoundland. This fishing village, in a period from the early 19th century to the close of World War I, is home to people with names like King-me Sellers, Devine’s Widow,  Bride and Mary Tryphena. For all of them life is hard, but for some harder than others. Judah, for sample, is found in the belly of a beached whale. Bleached white, unable to speak and with an ever-present fish smell, he nevertheless marries Mary Tryphena and becomes the strange patriarch of an important family.

When a physician from the United States comes to town, Bride, a comely young woman, insists he pull out all her teeth so that she will not suffer from tooth decay when she gets older. The doctor eventually  falls in love with Bride, making her his bride.

Offbeat tales like this dominate the novel. There are conflicts, love stories, intrigues and struggles galore. I found Crummey's book often fascinating, yet often dull. That is usually the case with multi-generational novels. Some characters and some subplots are just more interesting than others.