Monkey Beach
Ratings5
Average rating4
“Monkey Beach creates a vivid contemporary landscape that draws the reader deep into a traditional world, a hidden universe of premonition, pain and power.” --Thomas King Tragedy strikes a Native community when the Hill family’s handsome seventeen-year-old son, Jimmy, mysteriously vanishes at sea. Left behind to cope during the search-and-rescue effort is his sister, Lisamarie, a wayward teenager with a dark secret. She sets off alone in search of Jimmy through the Douglas Channel and heads for Monkey Beach—a shore famed for its sasquatch sightings. Infused by turns with darkness and humour, Monkey Beach is a spellbinding voyage into the long, cool shadows of B.C.’s Coast Mountains, blending teen culture, Haisla lore, nature spirits and human tenderness into a multi-layered story of loss and redemption.
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A tale that combines both humour and tragedy, western culture and aboriginal culture, wisdom and foolhardy decisions, Monkey Beach is as beautiful as it is haunting. Told in the perspective of Lisamarie Michelle Hill, a young Haisla First Nations girl, the story unfolds as a coming-of-age adventure fraught with heartbreak and humour in equal parts. Intertwined throughout the story is the tragedy of her brother's disappearance and her journey to look for him at Monkey Beach.
This novel captivated me. I couldn't put it down for long. And though I feel it deserves a five star rating, the interspersed scenes of animal pain and cruelty got to me quite a bit. However, to the novel's credit, I never felt it was gratuitous. It always served a purpose and furthered the story in some way.
The way the story is written makes the spirituality and supernatural elements feel strangely familiar, like I've somehow experienced it myself. Robinson's writing is fantastic and her ability to weave together truth and fiction into a seamless narrative gave the novel a unique verisimilitude.
I rate this a 4 out of 5 on Goodreads and an 8.5 out of 10 on my own scale. This is a truly special book; one that will stay with me for a very long time.
