Harbour View by Binnie Brennan
A Throwback Thursday Fiction Review from 2015 by James M. Fisher
Harbour View (2009, Quattro Books) deals with the small inner world of a Halifax nursing home (called Harbour View Centre) in which each character adds notes of wistfulness, sadness, lightheartedness, and even tragedy to be combined in a singular literary-musical tapestry that reaches through to the heart and to the mind. Ms. Brennan’s follow-up volume of short stories, A Certain Grace (2012 Quattro Books) and most recently, a novel, Like Any Other Monday (2014, Gaspereau Press) are equally as impressive, firmly establishing Ms. Brennan as a writer of note. Harbour View is her first novella and was the co-winner of the 2009 Ken Klonsky Novella Prize.
Each chapter of Harbour View could well stand on its own as a short story, but Ms. Brennan cleverly weaves them all together, the staff and residents along with their daily interactions to make a complete whole. Each person has their own story: their lost loves and lives lived; one resident is 109 years old and has, sadly, outlived all his children (his great-grandparent’s story can be found in “Duncan’s Lament” in A Certain Grace). Another resident has a picture of a young man in a silver frame whom everyone assumes is her late husband, but only she knows who he is. Others deal with the lives of two nurses Muriel and Estella outside of the nursing home, reminding us that healthcare professionals have to put their own lives on hold when they enter the workplace for the day to put the interests and needs of the patient first.
As Ms. Brennan is a classical violist (she played with Symphony Nova Scotia) it is only natural to compare her writing with classical music. However, her writing style is not that of a sweeping symphonic work but is more like the graceful, intimate, thoughtful cadences of chamber music. Indeed as I write this, I am listening to some Bach keyboard sonatas, which makes for some fitting background music for Harbour View.
Harbour View begins with a quote by Wayson Choy, an award-winning Canadian novelist:
One’s life should always be read twice, once for experience, twice for astonishment.
As the residents of Harbour View Centre look back on their lives (gently prompting us to do the same, either for ourselves or our loved ones) we find some small fragment of their astonishment, whether it is how they managed to live this long (perhaps too long!), or that they were able to accomplish something of value in their all too brief lives. This is a wonderful novella, and if you haven’t read either of Ms. Brennan’s other works, Harbour View is an excellent place to start! Recommended.
About the Author
Binnie Brennan is the author of three books of fiction, Like Any Other Monday (Gaspereau Press), and A Certain Grace and Harbour View (Quattro Books). Her short fiction has been published in several Canadian and American literary journals. Binnie’s work has been recognized by several awards, including the Ken Klonsky Novella Contest and the Miramichi Reader Very Best Award, shortlisted for an Atlantic Book Award, and longlisted for the ReLit Award. A long-time resident of Halifax, Binnie is currently at work on a collection of short stories.
Book Details
Publisher : Quattro Books; First Edition (Oct. 24 2009)
Language : English
Paperback : 128 pages
ISBN-10 : 0981018645
ISBN-13 : 978-0981018645