Somewhere In-Between
By Donna Milner
Published by Caitlin Press
285 pages; $21.95
Reviewed by Cecania Alexander
Within the first few scenes of Somewhere In-Between, I was infatuated with the novel’s lyric poeticism, intrigue and attention to beauty. Milner tells a story of love, isolation, mystery and hope in which a married couple tries to move on by relocating to a ranch in rural B.C., after their daughter’s tragic death.
Milner has a gift –an unusually deep connection to nature – and this graces her writing, more than satisfying a reader thirsty for an inspiring, freshly painted setting. “Beautiful British Columbia” would blush in pride if it could read about itself. Milner’s connection to nature springs from her life in B.C., including her years living in West Kootenays, the setting of her first two novels After River and The Promise of Rain. Milner now lives near Williams Lake, which she admits was the inspiration for the isolated lake home in Somewhere In-Between.
The novel pulses with subtle intensity from the first scene till the last sentence. The story starts as Julie and Ian O’Dell tour an isolated home in rural B.C. They purchase the lakeside ranch despite the mysterious tenant, Virgil Blue, who comes with the land. The reader follows as they search for the shadow cast by ominous hints at some looming beast in their world, in their relationship. Soon we learn their daughter Darla’s death haunts their lives. And yet the mysterious feeling remains, connected to the land and Virgil Blue. He becomes oddly, unwillingly, involved in Julie and Ian’s search for redemption and forgiveness.
Milner braids two other sections, besides the real-time narration of Julie and Ian’s lives on the ranch, into the book. One is Virgil’s story – a slow unraveling of his life before he came to the ranch, his family history, and his connection to the O’Dells. His is a chilling story, told with tactful objectivity; it operates as an engaging intermission for the main plot. The third thread is jarringly separate and begs the reader to suspend disbelief: it is a first-person account of the afterlife from Darla’s perspective.
Here Milner had me raising an eyebrow. Spirituality is bluntly presented, in the cliché of a spirit watching the world until an affair is in order: “There is no need to regret this goodbye . . . because as soon as I pass through I will meet them on the other side. It’s so easy to understand the truth about time having no meaning on our journey to love. In a single luminous flash, the light fills the universe before me . . .” This section also creates a few plot holes in the story and sways an already sentimental story.
By the end of the book, however, the compelling characters and the satisfying story overwhelmed my doubts. After turning the last page, I closed the book with affection, glad I picked it up in the first place. This is a beautiful adventure into the glory of B.C. and the grace of human love.
Cecania Alexander is a fourth-year creative writing student at the University of Victoria.