So writes Indigenous Canadian author Eden Robinson in Sasquatch at Home: Traditional Protocols & Modern Storytelling, a trilogy of short stories. In the second story, she uses fiction-prize money to take her Elvis-obsessed mother to The King’s old mansion Graceland in Tennessee. Witty and heartfelt, sharp and grounded, and so seriously quirky, it was quite the tale. I had to check out more of Robinson’s work.
Robinson is a member of the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations. Her profile on her publisher’s website lists her hobbies: “Shopping for the Apocalypse, using vocabulary as a weapon, nominating cousins to council while they’re out of town, chair yoga, looking up possible diseases or syndromes on the interwebs, perfecting gluten-free bannock and playing Mah-jong.” Stephanie Chou writes: “Eden Robinson has the most contagious laugh on this side of the globe. She shares a birthday with Edgar Allan Poe and Dolly Parton and is certain this affects her writing in some way. Combine these sensibilities with her early influences of Stephen King and David Cronenberg, and it’s natural that Eden’s writing is at once humorous and dark.”
“Humorous” and “dark” are certainly applicable adjectives for Robinson’s first novel, Monkey Beach. Wise men say only fools rush in, but I unfortunately couldn’t help falling in love with this book. Published in 2000, it follows the young Lisamarie (named for Elvis’ daughter) as she struggles with her little brother’s mysterious disappearance at sea. The novel swims into Lisa’s memories of a childhood on the Canadian coast, and interpolates Indigenous mythology into daily life. Lisa takes off to find her brother on the mysterious Monkey Beach, embarking on an oft-surreal journey of self-discovery and sasquatches. I’ve never before encountered “Northern Gothic” (as opposed to Southern Gothic) as a genre, and this was the best possible introduction.
Monkey Beach won the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, awarded annually to a fiction writer from Yukon or B.C. In 2020, the novel was also adapted into a film that won multiple awards at the American Indian Film Festival. Emily St. John Mendel (author of the acclaimed Station Eleven, Sea of Tranquility, and The Glass Hotel) lists it among her favorite books. Mendel laments that it got little recognition outside of Canada -- it was not marketed much to U.S. audiences. I hope, however, that more readers get their hands on this wonderful book, in the U.S. and beyond. It certainly left me all shook up.
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You can buy Monkey Beach from us at this link: https://eagleeyebooks.com/book/9780676973228 |
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