Claudia Casper’s The Reconstruction was meant to be my March CanLit read especially since my TBR numbers are lagging behind the WPL books and this is a title I actually own, however, between classes and falling ill, I only just finished it now. But since I started reading it in February, and read half of it in March, I’m still counting is as March’s book (plus I have April’s CanLit waiting in the wings….)
There’s a lot going on in this tiny book. So much so, that I very nearly abandoned it. I haven’t wanted to be very cerebral of late, being quite depleted mentally and physically, but I’m glad I stuck it out, because it really is a gem of a book, if you can get past the graphic dental detail.
I hate dentists and avoid them like the plague, visiting only under duress. It stems from childhood trauma in which I had the dentist from hell dig around until he found a cavity, no matter how miniscule, just so he could drill, drill, drill. Blech. So when Casper started with her female protagonist, Margaret, in the dentist’s chair, I was quite put off. But I persevered, and despite Margaret’s repeated visits to the dentist, all richly detailed in Casper’s masterful voice, I did end up enjoying much of the book after all.
Margaret is an artist whose husband of ten years has announced he wants a divorce. This emotional punch leaves Margaret spinning down into depression and apathy as she struggles to redefine her life as a newly separated woman. When asked to reconstruct an Australopithecus afarensis based on the fossil Lucy, for a display in the Natural Museum, Margaret begins to reawaken a primal being within herself that allows her to face important truths about the past as she places herself firmly within the chain of evolution.
As always, happy reading!
L J
| TBR = 6 | WPL = 15 |
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