March Book Review: February by Lisa Moore

Ok, it's about time that I review my March Book. I did finish reading it at the end of the month.

Reasons why I read this book:

-It was the winner of Canada Reads 2013. I didn't extensively follow the debates, only little snippets here and there while driving to work.

-A Valentine's Day present from Simon. Reading it in February would have been more appropriate, but I was reading something else.

Premise:  Based on a historical event: On February 14th 1982, the oil rig Ocean Ranger sank off the coast of Newfoundland. All 84 men aboard died. The novel follows the life of Helen, whose husband drowned on that February stormy night.

It was an easy and enjoyable read. Moore's writing is raw, elegant, clear and poetic. Overall, I like her style: short chapters, structure (shifts back between past and present). I have to admit that I felt indifferent towards the protagonist, Helen. No emotional attachment there. But that didn't bother me as the novel kept me involved and interested in her life and her family's. 

Here's a taste of two passages that I dogeared. 

Life barrels through; it is gone. Something rushes through. The front door slams and then a door slams in the back; something burns on the stove; birthday, brides and caskets; babies, bankruptcy, huge strokes of luck, the tree full of ice; gone.

There had been a hole in the centre of the dining room and all the things a man and woman could say to each other had dropped into the hole, and it had closed over, and the new hardwood floor gleamed shiny and mute.