Missmeganbunny’s Weblog

I fell in love with Ann-Marie MacDonald when I read “Fall On Your Knees” a few months ago. I was on vacation to Chincoteague Island and I feel like I missed that entire vacation due to being so wrapped up in my book. But it was so worth it, as that book was by leaps and bounds the best book I’ve ever read, period. I went straight to the library when I got home to see what other books by the same author were available, but was sort of disappointed by the selection… only one other book was there, and it seemed to be full of dense subject material that I’d find boring (about WWII and the Cold War mostly… blah). I didn’t get it that time, but on my most recent trip to the library I decided to pick it up due to a sneaking suspicion that Ann-Marie MacDonald might just be able to make war talk interesting to even ME.

Sure enough, I was right.

The story is about the McCarthy family. Mother is French (no– Acadian), Father is English, and two children Michel and Madeleine grow up bilingual. Father Jack is in the Air Force, and they are stationed in Centralia– an RCAF base in Canada. They are a picturesque family thriving in the post-war era. The story is mainly told from the perspective of eight year old (I think she’s eight at the beginning, she grows up over the course of the story) Madeleine, who’s struggling to make sense of the world and prone to anxiety about the state of the world. It doesn’t help when her fourth grade teacher Mr. March begins sexually abusing her and a few other little girls in her class. Madeleine doesn’t understand the nature of the abuse and is ashamed of it; she chooses to shield her “innocent” parents from knowing the truth by acting as if all is well.

We meet the children of Centralia, notably Ricky and Colleen Froelich who live across the street. Their father is a German Jew who survived concentration camp life during the war. Ricky is a charismatic teenage boy and a friend to all of the children, no matter what age. He seems to be a positive role model and all of the children look up to him, especially the little girls who are all lovestruck. Colleen is a wild, pocket-knife weilding nature girl who is often seen roaming the woods alone. Madeleine makes unlikely friends with her throughout the story.

Then something tragic happens– a new little girl on the base is found dead in a field, murdered. Jack worries that it may have to do with an undercover project he’s been involved in that has gotten out of hand. To the reader, all signs would point to Mr. March as being the killer, but none of the little girls he’s abused ever come forward to tell. Ricky Froelich is accused of the murder and rape of Claire McCarroll, sentenced originally to death then to life imprisonment. Most of the townspeople believe it to be a mistrial, but they are all too afraid to stick around with their children to pursue it any further. A large portion of Centralia moves, including the McCarthys.

It isn’t until decades later when the secrets of the past start to come out in the McCarthy family. Madeleine comes to terms with her sexual abuse and tries to find Claire McCarroll’s real killer. Her findings provide for a delicious twist at the end of the book.

I really loved this story. It was so easy to identify with Madeleine, even if you’re not a military child yourself. It was also easy to place myself there in the story, even though I wasn’t around in the 1950’s either. This was truly a page-turner… a 700 page-turner. MacDonald has a knack for creating beautiful mental images, as well as sharp and clear emotional scenes. You’ll find yourself Googling the book afterwards to see if it’s being made into a film! Hell, I’d pay to see it.