Finding Sonder in Historical Saskatchewan

Closer to Far Away, Kristin Butcher’s newest middle grade novel (she’s published dozens) is set a hundred years ago in small town Saskatchewan. Lucy, the 13-year-old protagonist, struggles to accept the sudden death of her mother and copes by trying to be a replacement mother to her 5-year-old brother, a housemaid for her workaholic banker-father, and a busy-body nosing about her older brother’s unsavory new connections. 

It’s a stiff-upper lip family and everyone seems isolated in their pain.  The death of the mother is the elephant in the room that they carefully side-step in different ways. Lucy resents any help from either the hired maid, Mrs. Jenkins, or her Aunt Faye. I couldn’t help but think of the Sound of Music where the orphaned children react with hostility towards the young novice nun, Maria, sent from the convent. In a poignant scene Aunt Faye says, “Life is all about change, Lucy.” (p.215) and I found myself sobbing along with Lucy who finally releases the grief inside her. 

Kristin Butcher is a master storyteller with a warm and engaging style.  Like with her previous novels, most recently The Seer Trilogy, I sink into her fictional worlds knowing that I can trust the author to offer up both a page-turning plot and realistic characters. 

In Closer to Far Away, immersed in early 20th century life in rural Saskatchewan, during the alcohol-prohibition era, I witnessed a family’s grieving process. A truly sonder experience. What is sonder? It’s when you can feel empathy, compassion and self-realization all at the same time. And that’s what good fiction is all about.