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 What happens when East bleeds into West – when a flower of the Orient takes root in Canadian soil?
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 On December 26,
2004 at 6:58 am, the earth erupted under the waters of the
Indian
Ocean...
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 Living in the shadow of greatness can be a difficult thing... |
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Death and Destruction
But dignity as well
by Jim Napier
The Sherbrooke Record
Friday, May 18, 2007
In the developed world we are accustomed to experiencing
disasters in small numbers. A forest fire might claim a few
lives, typically far less than a dozen; a ship sinking
perhaps twice or even three times as many; even the
appalling tragedy at the World Trade Center in September of
2001 resulted in less than 3,000 lives being lost. But each
of these events pale in comparison to truly global
calamities. On December 26th, 2004, an earthquake measuring
8.9 on the Richter scale occurred 160 kilometers off the
coast of Indonesia. It triggered a huge tidal wave — a
tsunami — that ultimately reached the shores of eleven
nations in Southeast Asia and claimed almost 250,000
victims. A quarter of a million lives; the shear scale of
such a loss is impossible to comprehend. Entire villages
were scoured from the face of the earth. Not only was every
last inhabitant killed or missing — in many cases the
villages themselves were obliterated. Where generations of
entire families had lived out their lives, not a single
trace remained. In many cases children were wrenched from
their parents and swept out to sea, while in others, parents
were taken, leaving their children behind. Husbands, wives,
brothers, sisters – it was almost an act of mercy if an
entire family was lost, and no one was left to mourn. Nor
was the rest of the world spared.
Europeans and yes, Canadians, vacationing at resorts
throughout the region were caught up in the maelstrom, and
wandered the beaches and searched makeshift morgues for news
of their loved ones.
Canadian author Donna Carrick pens an original mystery saga
against the background of this epochal event, and in so
doing paints us a vivid and heart-wrenching account of those
who were taken, and others, hardly more fortunate, who were
left behind.
Donna Carrick
Donna Carrick was born on Canada’s East Coast. Familiar with
the landscape of Southeast Asia, she traveled to Nanning,
China in 2003 to adopt their youngest child. Donna and her
husband Alex and their three children make their home in
Toronto, where she has set her most recent novel, The Noon
God. Constantly struggling with her command of Mandarin,
Carrick is currently working on her third novel, which is
set in China.
Gold and Fishes
(BookSurge, 2006)
Ayla Harris is at home in Canada, preparing to join an aid
mission to Aceh Province, the region of Indonesia hardest
hit by the tsunami, when her twin sister Zonnie calls. Her
husband, Robert Trasque, was traveling in Thailand at the
time of the disaster, and has gone missing. Not a man to
inspire confidence, Ayla wonders if he had been off on
another of his get-rich-quick schemes in the gold mining
industry, or worse, perhaps exploiting the sexual slaves for
which the region is infamous. Most benignly, perhaps he is
simply one more victim in the carnage left in the wake of
the tsunami. But sisters are sisters. Ayla agrees to use
what time and resources she can muster to search for Robert,
unaware that she will be putting her own life on the line.
Banda Aceh is a different world, and Ayla’s life will be
transformed as she battles death and disease, swindlers and
smugglers, government troops and insurgent rebels, while
balancing respect for local traditions against the emotional
needs of a small boy orphaned by the wave.
My Recommendation
Meticulously researched, Gold and Fishes contains not one,
but three carefully-interwoven story lines: there is the
compelling account of the almost incomprehensible
devastation caused by the tsunami on Boxing Day of 2004;
this forms the background for Carrick’s depiction of the
massive relief effort, both on an international level and on
a personal level, involving nurse Ayla Harris; finally,
there is the story of the disappearance of Ayla’s furtive
brother-in-law, Robert Trasque, and her search to find out
what happened to him.
The writing is poignant and evocative. In one scene a member
of the Canadian aid team recounts to Ayla the story of
Rashida, a teacher who serves as translator for the group.
Rashida has lost her children to the wave:
Clearly she was struggling with what she had to
say. “There were two children, a boy and a girl.”
“What?”
“That’s right. Aged ten and eight. The girl was the oldest. Rashida took
them for a day at the beach. They were playing on the sand.
They found it strange that the water seemed so far back.
They saw the fishes floundering where the receding tide had
left them to bake in the sun. They ran to grab the fishes…”
“And the wave swallowed them.” I finished the sentence for her.
The Grim Reaper will have his way. He sets the bait and we are caught.
Some of us are lured by gold, as Robert had been, chasing
his lost money halfway around the world. And some of us are
lured by fishes. Either way the story ends as we expect. The
Reaper has his way.
Readers in search of a traditional puzzle mystery, replete
with clues and a satisfying denouement, may come away
disappointed: the space given to the disappearance of Robert
Trasque makes up only a small portion (perhaps one seventh)
of the book as a whole. The strength of Gold and Fishes lies
rather in the gripping account of a global disaster, and in
the efforts of dedicated and resourceful aid workers to cope
with human suffering on an almost unimaginable scale. It is
a compelling story of loss, heartbreak, and hope. In a world
turned upside down, Carrick reveals the dignity and optimism
that sustains the human race.
..........................................................
Jim Napier can be reached at
jnapier@sherbrookerecord.com
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