No Great Mischief by: MacLeod, Alistair
Hardcover | 283 pages | ISBN:0-7710-5567-6
Year Published:1999 – McClelland & Stewart | Tidewater Price:$32.99
“No Great Mischief” is a novel about a Cape Breton family founded by Calum MacDonald who, in 1779, came from Scotland to settle and whose descendants
are, in the 1980s, leaving to making a living in the suburbs and mines of Ontario. The narrator, Alexander MacDonald, tells the story of his ancestors and of his own upbringing in Cape Breton. He and his younger sister were raised by grandparents when their own parents were killed in an accident. His older brothers chose to set up house on their own, with the inevitable chaotic results. The MacDonald siblings grow up and go their separate ways,some to university, others to the mines, but a sense of clan loyalty keeps them in touch and looking out for each other.
This novel is rich with history, moody description of landscape and, above all, unforgettable characters. Alexander’s two grandfathers are as different as night and day; one compulsively careful, the other hopelessly reckless, and yet are devoted to one another. His brothers are rambunctious and endearing and often in trouble. Even the dogs, steady companions, “strong as faith,” have personalities that stay with the reader after the last page is turned.
It took Alistair MacLeod 10 years to finish, but he has used his skills as a short story writer to craft a novel that is easy to read, filled with haunting images and well worth the wait.