The Retreat

by David Bergen

McClelland & Stewart

  ~ Review in Halifax Herald, 2009

Raymond Seymour was warned not to mess with Alice, a warning he doesn’t heed and Alice’s uncle takes great exception to his niece hanging around with the young Ojibway. He takes Raymond to an uninhabited island where he dumps him, leaving him to die.  But Raymond does not cooperate.

The narrative jumps ahead to Lizzie and her family, beginning their summer at a commune where Lizzie’s mother hopes to find her ‘salvation’. Lizzie’s attraction to Raymond weaves a complicated tale of love and tragedy.  The racial tensions caused by the Objibway occupation at Anicinabe Park in the ‘70's provide the backdrop to The Retreat.

However, the many characters can sometimes be difficult to keep straight, and they have a tendency to dilute the intensity of the narrative. The occupation at Anicinabe Park was an important moment in Canadian history, and there is room to develop the historical context within which the final tragedy explodes. That being said, it is Bergen’s talent as a writer and his ability to create mystery and escalating tension that keep the pages turning.

David Bergen is the author of several novels, including The Time in Between, which

won the Giller Prize, the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award, the Margaret

Laurence Award for Fiction and was longlisted for the International IMPAC

Dublin Literary Award.  He lives in Winnipeg.