Virgil Wander by Leif Enger is a lovely, quiet story on the surface, featuring quirky small-town folk who carry on in spite of heavy baggage. If you let yourself flow along with the gentle story, you will be caught up in the wind current of change and impending disaster to a satisfying conclusion. Have a little faith in these characters, and they will greatly reward you.
Greenstone, MN sits on the great inland sea of Lake Superior. Its glory days are behind it; the Taconic mine that built it looms over the shoreline, ruining the view with its reminder of what has been lost. The town's once famous ballplayer, whose uncontrollable wild pitch was both his boon and his burden, disappeared in a plane over the lake ten years ago. It seems like hard times haunts the town.
Virgil Wander operates the small theater. His car went through a railing into the lake. He should have died, except a beachcomber rescued him. Virgil is given a new lease on life. As recovers his equilibrium, adjectives, and strength he considers his future. Virgil is a good man. He holds an unrequited love for a woman, befriends her son, takes care of people in need.
Greenstone is undergoing a sea change. A local man is drowned while fishing for a legendary monster sturgeon. A kite flying Norwegian arrives, looking for information about the son he never knew he had. The town founder's son returns, his sheen of charm and panache a thin veil over a flinty heart. The town struggles to find a way to celebrate itself at its annual festival, finally embracing its heritage in Hard Luck Days.
The name of Virgil's town, Greenstone intrigued me.
Greenstone is the state gem of Michigan, found along Lake Superior. It is a mineral found in basalt, a volcanic rock. The Ely greenstone found in Minnesota is basalt that has been metamorphized; that is, volcanic rock which under pressure has been changed into a new form. Read more here.
Virgil's town of Greenstone is troubled by great disasters, economic and personal, and has been crushed and pummeled. But it survives and is reborn in a new form. This hopeful novel reminds us that suffering and loss is not the end of the story. We can, and do, survive the sea-change of near-death. And are reborn to a different life that may be as good or better than what we had known.
I received a free ARC from Bookish in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
Virgil Wander
Leif Enger
Atlantic Monthly Press
Publication October 2, 2018
$27.00 hardcover
ISBN 978-0-0821-2878-2
eISBN 978-0-8021-4668-7
