Like Father Like Son

The tension is killing me! I'm about half way through the novel now, and the amount of foreshadowing (or what I perceive to be foreshadowing) is building so much anticipation (or dread!) that I can hardly put the book down.

Earlier, in Part two, we heard the story of Elizabeth and William's first date. William took Elizabeth to the cemetery where his mother is buried, before brining her home to his drunken father, whom they found chasing a chicken around the yard. Now, in Part 3, Carl (Elizabeth and William's son) has a new love interest - Moira. And where does he take her on their first date? To visit his Mother's grave, where he proceeds to pour his heart out to her and tell the tale of how he killed his mother (WOW - I didn't see that coming either) by driving her into a tree. Until this point, I had no idea that it was Carl who had been driving the night his mother was killed. No wonder he is drowning in regret! And here I thought his doubts and self pity had all been caused by his high school love gone sour.

And so, at this point, I can't help but wonder if Carl and Moira are destined to the same fate as Elizabeth and William were - a long unhappy marriage full of lies and doubt. What sort of lies, you might ask?

Well, another revelation has come about in the story. It was revealed in chapter two of part two that Adam and Elizabeth had an intimate encounter on New Year's Eve in 1975. In September of 1976, Carl was born. I wonder...could Carl be Adam's son? Earlier in this chapter, I had wondered if there could be some impending connection between Carl and Adam, for Elizabeth's affections towards Adam had been growing steadily. Now, although Elizabeth claims that Carl is William's son, I can't help but think there are many secrets that will soon be revealed.

If Adam is Carl's father, Carl needs to know! Currently, a large portion of Carl's self-pity lays in the fact that he perceives his fate to be set in stone. His father was a drunken fighter, as was his grandfather, so he shall be. However, if he were to discover that his father was a successful, albeit socially awkward, businessman, could be break free from his self-imposed death sentence?

At this point in the movie that has been playing in my mind, the song "The Funeral" by Band of Horses is playing on the soundtrack. It seems as though the one thing Carl and Adam do have in common is that things in their life keep going wrong and they seem tied to their fate...and at this point in the book it seems like they are both waiting for the next funeral. The only question is, who's? Click below to listen.

A Letter from Uncle Walt

In chapter one of part 2, we learn more about Elizabeth McKelvey, her family and her upbringing. Her parents, Louis and Lillian Glade, saw the world from a very unique point of view and they treasurered their daughter as if she were a porcelain doll. Louis and Lillian had a strange obsession with British Royal Family, to the point where her father tracked their every move, keeping scrapbooks of newspaper clippings and photographs. In particular, they loved Princess Elizabeth, who was in line to be Queen. Hence, they named their only child Elizabeth.

In describing her childhood to Adam Goldsmith, she tells him of the day her father died. It was October 18th, 1951, and Princess Elizabeth was visiting Canada. Louis was telling his family about her visit that day to an egg farm in Sarnia, ON, when he keeled over and died of a heart attack at the dinner table.

This incident stands as a turning point in Elizabeth’s life. The chain of events that follows leads up to Elizabeth’s mother moving to Chicago leaving Elizabeth completely alone in Kingston. Having been caudled and protected her entire life, she soon meets a wild and free spirited William McKelvey, and ironically ends up the wife of an egg farmer. However, this point stuck me for another significant reason. My father’s Uncle Walt was an egg farmer in Sarnia, and if I remember correctly, this visit by Princess Elizabeth is in fact a true story. I called my sister, a historian who happens to be the Director of the Lambton County Archives, to confirm. She sent me several photos of people in Sarnia preparing for the arrival of Princess Elizabeth in Sarnia on October 18th, 1951, (below) along with photos of my Uncle Walt’s egg farm (above).



"Children from the Sarnia area will see Princess Elizabeth." A photo from the archives of the Sarnia Observer. Dated October 13th, 1951.



"The 26th Battery of the 31st Field Regiment will meet Princess Elizabeth." A photo from the archives of the Sarnia Observer. Dated October 13th, 1951.

Using those images as inspiration, I imagined that my Great Uncle Walt was an aquaintance of Louis Glade, and that he wrote a letter about the Royal visit. The letter was mailed on the day Louis died, and Elizabeth received it several days later.

Click on the image below to download the letter.

The Gleaners of West Gull

In part 1, the story reads like a run on sentence – a runaway train of thought full of pity and regret. I wonder how Carl will ever dig himself out of this hole. It’s funny that Carl buried Ned in a hole up to his neck, because it seems like everyone in this story is up to his neck in regret. It’s so depressing, I wish I could get a shovel and dig them all out!

In part 2, the writing becomes more formal. We are now hearing the story from a place that is further removed from the characters. Whereas in part 1 I felt a strong affinity towards Carl and his situation, now I just see myself as a spectator off in the distance, uninvolved with any of the characters or events being described. However, despite this distance, I am finding the story of Elizabeth (Carl’s mother) and Adam (her lover) to be much more interesting and involved than the puppy love turned to obsession story of Carl and Chrissy. There is more drama, more intrigue, and the author does a better job of creating some mystery and suspense. What is going to happen between these two? Where is this story leading us? Could there be more than what meets the eye to this relationship between these outwardly bookish couple? The story is suddenly less familiar and yet somehow more real.




I am finding more and more that Cohen's story telling is reminiscent of French realist painting – the spectator is far removed from the people in the scene, and the scene itself is very close to the viewer's everyday experiences. It’s building the same sense of understanding and empathy that the great painters such as Jean Francois Millet mastered. When Millet started painting everyday subjects such as gleaners (people who would harvest the scraps from the wheat field in order to survive), the art world was shocked that a painter would give such consideration to a lowly peasant. Until this time, all large scale works of art were dedicated solely to the genres of history painting, royalty, and battle scenes. When Millet unveiled his painting, the Gleaners in 1857, he brought attention to the underbelly of French society. Millet focused on poverty, a subject matter that was based on real life for the majority of the French population – something familiar. With this work of art, the genre of French Realism was born and there was a momentous shift amongst painters to focus on the common everyday aspects of life.

Today, the boundaries of art and literature are almost endless. However, while reading Elizabeth and After I still find myself thinking of Millet and his Gleaners. Cohen has brought to life the everyday mundane and yet dramatic aspects of a small town. I am sure that there are characters like Carl and Chrissy and Elizabeth and Adam in small towns scattered throughout Southwestern Ontario. The people and events are not overly spectacular or uncommon, but real and familiar.