Genre: LGBT, Bildungsroman, Literary fiction, Historical fiction
Description:
An
unfrocked Catholic monk looks back on his life as a lonely boy, teenager and
young man, and makes up the life of his namesake great-granduncle whom he never
knew.
Maurice
returns to his childhood home (now derelict) in Normandy for most of December 1993.
He squats in the old house, and writes this book. Maurice mines his memories
deeply and the lives of the two Maurices become increasingly entwined. Both
Maurices are gay. Neither found that easy, nor came to terms with their
sexuality. But both find acceptance and peace within themselves as the younger
Maurice recreates his own past and that of his imaginary, long-dead relative. I
suspect there is a substantial element of autofiction in this book.
The
novel is set in Normandy, Paris and Toronto during the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries, moving fluidly between times and places.
Author:
Amazon’s biography of Albert Crepet tells us
he was “born in Normandy, France, then in 1978 made his home in Toronto. His
first love was poetry. A number of his poems have been published in Compass
Magazine and the New Times. Nameless River is a novel Albert carried in
his heart and worked on for many years.”
When not working, Albert can be found
gardening, or walking through a forest, or sitting by a lake.
Appraisal:
This
is a fascinating book on a number of levels. And beautifully written. Perhaps
oddly, it reminded me a little of Michael Carson’s ‘Benson’ trilogy. Set in the
Sixties, written in the Eighties, those three books also deal with a catholic
boy trying to make sense of his sexuality. This book is less pratfall funny
than Carson’s work, but perhaps more empathetic.
I
couldn’t put it down. I, a heterosexual woman born in Britain in the Fifties,
nevertheless found many resonances with my own childhood in this book. Dear god
– how did any of us turn out able to function at all?
It
is set largely in France, but is not a translation. So there isn’t that
clunkiness one often gets with work which started life in another language.
Much of it is set in the French countryside and shows us the way of life there
in the Fifties (when de Gaulle was in power, Communism was a real force in
French politics, and to own a television was a mark of status). Plenty of
French phrases are used, for colour, but each is translated (so you can
practice your rusty French, secure in the knowledge that a proper translation
is imminent). The placenames of the villages deep in la campagne are
themselves a joy.
Women
are not neglected in this book. Crepet draws the characters of Maurice’s
sister, mother and grandmother deftly and with great tenderness. In the times
in which the book is set, women had little conventional authority and had to make
a niche for themselves however they could. I still shudder when I recall how
little notice anyone took of women and girls in the Fifties and Sixties in
Britain. It was no better in France.
At
times the novel moves back further in time and to Paris, where the author draws
a picture of gay life during the first decade of the Third Republic. In 1878,
foreshadowing the younger Maurice’s exile from holy orders, great granduncle
Maurice is sent away from his monastery at Saint-Benôit-sur-Orne and has to
find a new place in the world. These searching sections become more frequent,
longer and more intense as the book unfolds.
The
book is profound in the questions it asks about gay men in the two time periods
it switches between: how can, should, and must an individual conduct himself
when society treats him as an outcast?
Towards
the end the two threads (Maurice and great-granduncle Maurice) become so agitated
and enmeshed that the only way to ride the flood to the end is to let go of
one’s own sensibilities and just go with the flow.
Buy now
from: Amazon US Amazon UK
FYI:
None. A beautifully written and presented
book.
Format/Typo
Issues:
No issues.
Rating: *****
Five Stars
Reviewed
by: Judi Moore
Approximate word count: 65-70,000 words
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