Crow Lake

I too loved this book. My mom's book club read it and she recommended it to me. Thanks for your comments Katie, connecting it with The Kite Runner. I had realized how similar in structure the books were until you tied them together- both hinge on one life altering decision made in childhood, both end with hope but not a complete resolution, both are fictional biographies. Their settings and characters were so different that I hadn't connected them but really in the humanity of their tales they are very connected.

I think Marie gets a bad rap from Kate. Kate sees her as purely horrible but that's because she is the one who takes away her brother and hero from her. She is so jealous of Marie that she can't see Matt's true feelings for her. I'm not sure that Matt didn't love Marie(though I'm not sure that he did either- he was definitely in a vulnerable position). He certainly acted like it- He burnt down the barn and filled in the quarry that held such terrible memories for her. He couldn't take her away from it completely but he gave her as much of a clean slate as he could. I imagine that he adjusted to the situation pretty fast. He was a smart enough guy to make the best of it too. He may not have gotten to study biology like Kate but he got to live immersed in it everyday. It seems that he was a man to surround himself with learning whether in school or not. He didn't teach Kate from books- he taught her from life. His only failing was in Kate's eyes not in real life. I was sad that they didn't seem to have anymore kids.

I loved Luke too and I had hoped that he would marry once his siblings were grown. I was happy that he became very successful. I loved the way that the author brought you up to date on everyone's lives at the end with out it being a summary epilogue. The way she did it was necessary for the plot and perfect for the ending of the book. I just like that we got to see all of our favorite characters one last time- in the present and it made sense in the context of the book to do that. Hope I make sense- I've got mommy brain. :)

I wish that I could find out what happened to the other Pyes that walked off of the farm. I wonder if they stopped the cycle of abuse. Maybe the cycle only continued with the one that stayed behind because the one that stayed was the one who wasn't brave enough or was too greedy to leave. They also endured the most abuse because they stayed. The story of the one Pye who ran away after falling into the pond terrrified me. I kept expecting her to say that they found his body somewhere when the snow thawed in the spring. When she didn't I had hope that maybe he made it to somewhere... So sad to think of an 11 year old boy journeying off in the snow soaking wet. I hope he had somewhere to go to warm up first...

I loved their community and the way that they banded to keep their little family together and safe. I loved the lady who came over to cook/clean/and babysit. I can't remember her name at the moment. She was amazing. I love that all charity to them had to be given in a certain way in order for the boys to be willing to accept it. They still had to have some control and while they needed help and accepted help it was on their own terms. I wished that the Pyes had had more of that community interference. I think that because they were a successful and seemingly whole family, people respected their privacy and kept their distance. They were the real tragedy.

It is interesting the assumptions we make about ourselves and the way that they lock us into place. Kate assumed that she could never love anyone. She assumed that she needed to go away to school to be a success for the family. She assumed that she had to lock herself away from people so that she wouldn't hurt again. Daniel made her see that she could love. She was a success and she loved what she studied but she also let it remove her from her family. She let that prize divide her from her love. Finally she realized in the end that her hurting was caused by locking herself away. I am thankful for the surprises in life that knock us out of our assumptions and help us to open up.