The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.2001, Side 43

Vol. 56 #2
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
81
Frances
by W.D. Valgardson
Groundwood Books, $7.95, ISBN 0888993978
Reviewed by Linda Goodman
Frances discovers that being “bom under
the glacier,” means, among other things, that
she might be psychic. This is good news for
an inquisitive adolescent who aspires to be a
detective, a coroner or an anthropologist.
Frances is award-winning author, W.D.
Valgardson’s novel about a young girl who
lives on Lake Winnipeg with her mother and
grandmother.
Like Pandora’s box, the discovery of an
ancestor’s journal at the family homestead,
along with photos and an old dress, opens up
questions, questions that greatly disturb both
her mother and her grandmother.
“Some things should just be left alone,”
warns her gran.
Following her instincts Frances digs deep
into her family’s past in order to find clues
about who she is, and where she came from.
The family skeletons, (and the accompanying
emotional baggage) rear their ugly heads,
which naturally inspire her to dig even deep-
er. How were her struggling ancestors able to
live in the richest house in town? And what
about her own father? Frances is tom between
“being sad or being mad,” thinking that if he
didn’t drown, perhaps he is living it up in a
tropical country somewhere without her.
Valgardson masterfully creates an aura of
mystery and the supernatural as he brings
ancient Icelandic folklore to life. A black and
white raven accompany Frances on her quest
for knowledge, but she is not afraid; she rec-
ognizes them as mascots of the Norse god
Odin. Her discovery and inexplicable insight
with Runic casting stones set Frances apart
and help her to accept aspects of her own
identity that up until now only caused confu-
sion.
When the dragonflies alight on Frances as
she sits quietly in the sunshine, we see a
young girl who is just beginning to under-
stand her own spiritual and physical connec-
tion to this precious earth. “She sat there cov-
ered in golden bodies and wings. This is what
the island and the lagoon were all about.
When she sat like this, she felt like she wasn’t
just her, separate, but part of something big-
ger.”
Frances will charm all readers with her
intelligence and her humorous approach to
life. Her adolescent point of view is revealing,
honest and hilarious. Frances is an explorer,
on a journey of discovery where there is no
turning back.
The settings are unmistakably Lake
Winnipeg, where Valgardson spent his own
youth. The book’s message is invaluable to
young people who are struggling to discover
their own identities. Frances manages to learn
from her family’s past but is smart enough to
forgive and go forward on the path that leads
to her own destiny.
Fans of Frances will be pleased to hear that
VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates, Lanham,
MD, USA) was one of twenty-five books to
win a place on VOYA's Top Shelf Fiction for
Middle School Readers. It was also the only
Canadian book.