In anticipation of the publication of her debut novel, “Eva Crocker shares a story about her mother, Lisa Moore”.
In the broadest sense, her piece reveals the importance of childhood memories and how, even years later, events that occured when we are young, fundamentally influence our responses to events in our adulthood. This is a factor in All I Ask, a story which is best discovered without spoilers.
Lisa Moore is a favourite writer of mine, so when Naomi told me about the connection between these women, my expectations of All I Ask rose immediately.
Are there similarities in the women’s writing? A comparable focus on relationships. The narrator of All I Ask takes a Standardized Patient Testing gig at the hospital, where you help train student doctors by acting a part and presenting key symptoms, which is also true of one of the characters in a Lisa Moore story). Debut coming-of-age novel that gains substantial critical attention, following a collection of short stories. (Lisa Moore’s was 2004’s Alligator and she had published two story collections.) So, yes, some similarities.
Early on, in All I Ask, readers are alerted to the fact that the narrator is interested in different ways of being. We know that she has experimented with portraying herself from different angles online—literally and metaphorically—sometimes explicitly, always without revealing her face. This poses questions, from the start, about whether this is simply part of coming-of-age, testing different personalities, different versions of one’s burgeoning selfhood. Or whether this is indicative of a deeper deception.
It could go either way: it’s possible for even innocuous elements of life to inhabit both extremes on a scale. Like this: “Most of the clothes had been donated by old people, or more likely by their families after they’d passed away. It was all either really big or really small because of how people tend to shrink or expand at the end of their life.” Maybe, as we age, we inhabit more space, but perhaps we inhabit less. This kind of paradox remains unanswerable and it’s the process of questioning that matters more.
What I most enjoyed about All I Ask was the glimpse into everyday, ordinary life of a young woman in Newfoundland. Her concerns—about trust and reliability, about self-definition and independence—are universal and relatable. And even when not very much is happening, it was more than enough to maintain my interest.
Giller-bility
Other debut novels by young women have been longlisted and, like this one, not shortlisted for the prize, like Zoey Leigh Peterson’s Next Year for Sure (in 2017) and Jennifer Lovegrove’s Watch How We Walk (in 2014)—both favourites of mine. Occasionally one has advanced to the shortlist, like Mona Awad’s 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl (in 2016) and Heather O’Neill’s The Girl Who Was Saturday Night (in 2014).
Inner workings
Predominantly character-driven, with an uncertainty that simmers beneath the story for the duration, this isn’t necessarily a complex, layered story. Still, thematic echoes do add vital notes of satisfaction: “Before the bite I would stick my hand out and pet any dog I saw in the street. Now I never pet a dog I don’t know.”
Language
Straightforward, plain speech with the occasional flourish: “There were long pauses between the retching. It sounded like someone trying to lift a heavy piece of furniture.” But one of the characters does have a penchant for poetry and lyrical prose, with Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson, This Wound is a World by Billy-Ray Belcourt, Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong, and Chelsea Girls by Eileen Myles close at hand.
Locale
At a broader level, Crocker takes care to differentiate between the east-coast provinces: “The atmosphere at rallies in St. John’s was boisterous, almost joyful. No one got arrested for protesting in St. John’s. Not like in Labrador, where cops were sent up in hordes to violently arrest Land Protectors.” More granularly, she invites readers into the gritty, everyday life of a Newfoundlander with observations like this: “That fall had been cold, by September you couldn’t go around the house on Patrick Street without a second pair of socks.”
Engagement
If the kind of rationalization/idealism in the following paragraph irks you, it might be difficult to forge a bond with the narrator; she’s credible and flawed, not necessarily “likeable”. “Even if it was just bartending and selling tickets, I would be spending time at the theatre. I’d know what auditions were coming up. I’d be there on closing night when everyone got wasted and people fought and hooked up for the first time. I’d spring to mind when people were casting. I’d go to more shows, improve my craft by observation and osmosis.”
Readers Wanted
Why people do things interests you than what they do.
You’ve suffered through roommates (or you’ve never had them and want to feel smug about that).
When you think of the Atlantic provinces, you rhyme off New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and P.E.I., but overlook Newfoundland and Labrador.
I think I just replied to Bill’s comment by mistake, which happens sometimes when I use my phone. Oh well. Hi Bill! 🙂
Hahaha, but it actually does seem to fit with Bill’s comments. And, ironically, now when you’re saying Hello, your comment did NOT nest under Bill’s comment. Oh, well, I’m sure he knows you’re friendly. Hee hee.
🙂
How interesting to read the work of both a mother and daughter. I think Kiran Desai who wrote one of the Booker winners some years ago is the daughter of Anita Desai, I’m tying to think of any others I know of, there must be some.
Yes, that’s one of the ones I was trying to think of: thank you! It may have been the first instance in which I noted that connection, when I read The Inheritance of Loss (I haven’t read Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard). That’s an instance in which I feel the differences are as notable as the similarities.
This post was a timely reminder that I’ve had this on my bookshelf since it came out and I really need to read it! I love Lisa Moore, and I saw Eva read in Calgary years ago so I’ve got high hopes for this one too. From all the descriptions of it, I think it would appeal to me, but I just need to read the darn thing!
She’s gotten good press/coverage from the earliest days of her career, so I imagine this prizelisting will be a serious boon for her career from here on. I know what you mean, it’s hard to make time for all the good reading!
I don’t know why I assumed Lisa Moore was too young to have a grown daughter! I’ve enjoyed trying some mother-daughter pairs, like Jane and Emily Urquhart (more CanLit!) and Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor. I’ve only read three of Moore’s books but would gladly read the rest if I could ever find them.
She’s consistently worked with indie publishers, which likely means it’s harder to find them overseas. House of Anansi has an online store, so they would probably happily ship them to you, but I know you prefer to shop second-hand. I feel like there are more mother-daughter pairs, but I can’t think of any others right now…
You don’t say who is the better writer – mother or daughter? I can’t think of a similar pair in Australia. The closest might be Helena Sumner Locke who died giving birth to Sumner Locke Elliott. We have father-son footballers all over the place. I wonder if writing is not genetic.
It doesn’t feel like a fair question to me yet, with this being the only work I’ve read by the daughter, compared to the seven books by the mother. There’s a lot of thematic layering in Lisa Moore’s Alligator, and I just love that kind of complexity in a story, but for some readers that slows the story; in Eva Crocker’s debut, there’s more of a focus on voice and plot, and it’s well done, but it didn’t pull me into that other layer of crafting that I love. Maybe the most famous North American example would be Stephen King’s offspring?
That’s probably one of the things I enjoyed most about reading this book – comparing her to her mother! While at the back of my mind knowing that’s not fair. Especially, as you say, because the mother has much more experience by now. I would say it’s looking hopeful for Eva, though. Very hopeful. It would be nice to have another Lisa Moore. Her mom must be bursting with pride!
Maybe because you had more time to get used to the idea? Even though you’d just told me, shortly before I read it, I didn’t even think about the similarities until I was finished. (Oh, I think maybe you read her collection of stories, too, so maybe that also brought you around to thinking about the connections?) Maybe she’s proud, maybe she’s annoyed…”Go be special some other way, any other way!” LOL
Haha – I wondered about that, too! Surely not… 🙂
Hi Naomi, you’re welcome to write under my comments whenever the fancy takes you. And you’ll both be pleased to know I’ve been immersed in 1940s and 50s Toronto for the last two or three days.
Thank you, Bill. 🙂
Ooo… Can’t wait to hear more about that!