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Pale Surface of Things
All his life, Douglas been going with the flow, not asserting himself, as if good looks can serve as a compass. Hotfooting it from his own wedding vows in eastern Crete, thereby horrifying his bourgeois betrothed and her crass, rich, American father-in-law-to-be, is an unforeseen act of self-preservation.
But where does he go? Where does he hide? Having worked on a summer archaeological dig, Douglas takes refuge with a Greek widow and her young son, a goat shepherd, hoping to start his life afresh. But when our injured hero-on-the-run gets robbed a second time-by the thief who shot him the first time-he astonishes himself and the boy by stabbing and apparently killing their assailant.
So now the formerly hapless Douglas is on the lam from the police as well as an irate father-in-law. Penniless, forced to steal, he plunges headlong into village intrigues that have arisen from the brutal Nazi occupation of Greece more than fifty years ago.
That's just the beginning of Janey Bennett's fascinating first novel, The Pale Surface of Things (Hopeace Press $22). The young, would-be archaeological is the hook for only half of the story. There's another, far more important central character, Father Dimitrios, wise beyond his years, viewed as radically modern by the locals, who has also eschewed romance.
The American-educated but Crete-born Orthodox priest who uses email and rides an antique Vespa motorscooter has returned to vendetta-riddled Crete to unravel a dark family secret. The paths of the two seekers finally cross about halfway through the novel, by which time Janey Bennett has easily succeeded in making her reader want to get a ticket to fly to Heraklion from Athens as soon as possible.
Incorporating points of view from a myriad of supporting characters, Bennett has a Balzac-ian zeal for bringing the society of Crete itself into the foreground of her story. We also get drawn further into the history of the Cretan underground resistance during World War II.
"Some are born Greek, some achieve Greekness, some have Greekness thrust upon them,"; she says. "I was lucky. I stayed in Chania for a month, driving back and forth across Lefka Ori, tracking down villages and World War II sites, looking for locations and geographical links.
"I was planning to go back several times a year while I wrote Pale Surface and instead, after that trip I nearly died from a parasite I picked up in Asia, so I bought all these books and researched by reading.
"My Cretan friends think I may have been more accurate as a result of not being there, of not interacting with them. They are amazed that I know more than they do about traditions on the island and their grandmothers verify my information.";
Ultimately, the confluence of village traditions, Greek law and the Orthodox church enable Douglas to learn necessary lessons of shame, terror, gratitude, forgiveness, and ultimately, accountability.
The title The Pale Surface of Things refers to Father Dimitrios, who, with help from Douglas, painstakingly restores religious frescoes that were covered up during the war. It's a sophisticated, movie-like novel, slightly longer than it needs to be, that persuasively shows how personal honour can be more important than sex, social striving or conformity.
Published from Victoria, with an overly-modest book jacket, The Pale Surface of Things has received seven book industry awards, including a gold medal for multicultural fiction from USA Book News Awards, as well as Indie Excellence Awards and Indie Next Generation Awards. In Canada, Pale Surface has gained a citation for Best Use of Environmental Materials (from PubWest), shared with Friesens Printers of Manitoba, who used 100% post-consumer recycled paper with vegetable inks.
Raised in San Diego as the daughter of an English professor, Janey Bennett is a UCLA graduate and architectural journalist who lives on Hornby Island and in Bellingham.
978-0-9734007-2-4
[Alan Twigg / BC BookWorld]
But where does he go? Where does he hide? Having worked on a summer archaeological dig, Douglas takes refuge with a Greek widow and her young son, a goat shepherd, hoping to start his life afresh. But when our injured hero-on-the-run gets robbed a second time-by the thief who shot him the first time-he astonishes himself and the boy by stabbing and apparently killing their assailant.
So now the formerly hapless Douglas is on the lam from the police as well as an irate father-in-law. Penniless, forced to steal, he plunges headlong into village intrigues that have arisen from the brutal Nazi occupation of Greece more than fifty years ago.
That's just the beginning of Janey Bennett's fascinating first novel, The Pale Surface of Things (Hopeace Press $22). The young, would-be archaeological is the hook for only half of the story. There's another, far more important central character, Father Dimitrios, wise beyond his years, viewed as radically modern by the locals, who has also eschewed romance.
The American-educated but Crete-born Orthodox priest who uses email and rides an antique Vespa motorscooter has returned to vendetta-riddled Crete to unravel a dark family secret. The paths of the two seekers finally cross about halfway through the novel, by which time Janey Bennett has easily succeeded in making her reader want to get a ticket to fly to Heraklion from Athens as soon as possible.
Incorporating points of view from a myriad of supporting characters, Bennett has a Balzac-ian zeal for bringing the society of Crete itself into the foreground of her story. We also get drawn further into the history of the Cretan underground resistance during World War II.
"Some are born Greek, some achieve Greekness, some have Greekness thrust upon them,"; she says. "I was lucky. I stayed in Chania for a month, driving back and forth across Lefka Ori, tracking down villages and World War II sites, looking for locations and geographical links.
"I was planning to go back several times a year while I wrote Pale Surface and instead, after that trip I nearly died from a parasite I picked up in Asia, so I bought all these books and researched by reading.
"My Cretan friends think I may have been more accurate as a result of not being there, of not interacting with them. They are amazed that I know more than they do about traditions on the island and their grandmothers verify my information.";
Ultimately, the confluence of village traditions, Greek law and the Orthodox church enable Douglas to learn necessary lessons of shame, terror, gratitude, forgiveness, and ultimately, accountability.
The title The Pale Surface of Things refers to Father Dimitrios, who, with help from Douglas, painstakingly restores religious frescoes that were covered up during the war. It's a sophisticated, movie-like novel, slightly longer than it needs to be, that persuasively shows how personal honour can be more important than sex, social striving or conformity.
Published from Victoria, with an overly-modest book jacket, The Pale Surface of Things has received seven book industry awards, including a gold medal for multicultural fiction from USA Book News Awards, as well as Indie Excellence Awards and Indie Next Generation Awards. In Canada, Pale Surface has gained a citation for Best Use of Environmental Materials (from PubWest), shared with Friesens Printers of Manitoba, who used 100% post-consumer recycled paper with vegetable inks.
Raised in San Diego as the daughter of an English professor, Janey Bennett is a UCLA graduate and architectural journalist who lives on Hornby Island and in Bellingham.
978-0-9734007-2-4
[Alan Twigg / BC BookWorld]
Submitted on September 12, 2008 in By David.
