Book Notes

Characters :
Luke: Oldest brother, first Morrison child to go to Teacher's College
Matt: Other older Brother, works on the neighbours farm (Pye Family)
Kate: Narrator of the story, ten years younger then Matt
Bo (Elizabeth): Baby sister
Aunt Annie: Came to look after the children after the accident
Daniel: Kates boyfriend *(when she's older)


So Far...
Kates brother Luke has been accepted to teachers college, assuming he needs a suitcase as soon as possible the children's parents rush out to buy him one. Leaving Bo and Kate to be watched by their brothers, the parents went out of town to purchase Luke's suitcase. The boys knew something was up when they saw the police cars pull up to their house, seeing police cars in Crow Lake was highly unusual. Finding out that their parents had been hit by a logging truck and died, the children headed towards their "comfort zone"; the pond.


"Memories, I'm not in favour of them, by or large" (20) Kate hopes to keep her memories in an airtight cupboard, she tried to do so for months. Kate makes many referrals to her great grandmother more than anyone, she believes she is truley the strongest Morrison the family has had. Great Grandma's devotion was, education- homework before farm work. Kates father was one of her only sons to finish highschool, they sent him off with a packed hacksack and sent him out into the world. He followed the St.Lawrence river until he finally settled into Crow Lake. He had a job as a banker in Straun and proposed to his highschool sweetheart.

After the death of the parents, Matt and Luke were left to take care of all the funeral plans, appointments, and phone calls.

Chapter Three

Kate starts off talking about Daniel and how she has not shared her full history with him. Daniel is a professor at a University also in the zoology department. He is curious about Kate's life, and lets her know that by constantly reminding her that she does not open up to him completely. Kate is not from a background where people talk about their problems in their relationships. “If someone does or says something that upsets you, you don't say so”(36) That is the Eleventh Commandment, Thou shalt not emote. Kate is always trying to keep her emotions locked up inside, she does not like discussing her tragic past. Kate describes her life like “osmosis” by soaking up her surroundings unintentionally in order to know her past life. Miss Vernon is the source of what she knows most about Crow Lake.

Aunt Annie arrived two days after the funeral, in order to take care of the children until they got settled, and figured out what was going to happen next. Aunt Annie was just like Great Grandmother Morrison. She referred to this time as “the honey moon period”- there was no real happiness.

Kate goes to the pond for comfort, lying there trying to forget about everything that has happened in the last week. “Dread lying inside of me rose up like a river, like a flood.” This is a sign that Kate is unsure how she should handle the situation, she is old enough to realize something bad has happened, but still too young to do anything about it.

The way Mary Lawson tells the story of the children’s life is what captures me the most. She uses scenarios that can happen in any family situation. She creates a history of sacrifice, emotional isolation and family love without it sounding false. She focuses on the emotional and moral effects of a drastic turn of events.
Mary Lawson chooses a wild landscape as the anchor in this story told in flashback.  "Wherever you are now and wherever you may be in the future, nothing alters the point you started from." The Morrison family has standards that have to be met, Great Grandmother Morrison has set them high. Education is like the Morrison family's religion. Brothers did more than their share of work in order for the younger children can study in high school. At seven years old, Kate shows her thirst for knowledge, the ponds near her home were her learning spots; she learned about snapping turtles, frogs and beetles. Matt ( ten years older  then Kate) has taught her most of what she knew about the pond. He is her idle, setting her on a path which lead her to become an assistant professor in invertebrate ecology. Kate's other brother Luke's achievements trigger the book's central events. Nineteen years old and is not a scholar like his older brother Matt. The children are left orphans when the parents take a trip, twenty miles away to buy Luke a suitcase for college.  This is the beginning of a series of complicated emotional debts and disappointments, which impact their life as an adult.
Lawson created a subplot along with the Morrison's tragedies. The Pye family collides with the dreams of the Morrison’s. This subplot manages to be riveting for this family because they belong to a Greek tragedy, each generation has produced an abusive father who drives his sons away and only one son ever stays to become the next tyrant with terrible consequences.
Lawson is very good with the details that the children notice daily. For example, Kate has a hard time recalling her mother's face but can easily remember the doctor's dog that could pick blueberries with her teeth. Lawson made it so the youngest child (Bo) to represent the family's vulnerability. Lawson’s structure is her only weakness, she signposts throughout the novel but it is not necessary. Kate is always known for eavesdropping on conversations so the plot progresses, this can be seen as an awkward device. 

In Crow Lake, Lawson excludes the misconception of isolation(negative state of being) by conveying the positive aspects of isolation throughout the community. The community's surroundings are described as “miles and miles of nothing..”(93) and the roads are referred to as, “a thin grey-while line”(93) which signifies the community's isolation. Emotional isolation is a major theme in Crow Lake.

Secondary Sources/Critical Author

• Pearl, Nancy. "CROW LAKE." Library Journal 19(2005):108. eLibrary. Web. 18 Oct. 2011.
• Veale, Scott. "Crow Lake. (New & Noteworthy Paperbacks)." The New York Times Book Review 2 Feb. 2003: 24. General OneFile. Web. 19 Oct. 2011.



About Mary Lawson

Author: Mary Lawson                                                  Title: Crow Lake

Brief Background

Mary Lawson was born in southwestern Ontario in 1946, but grew up in Blackwell, Ontario. She became an industrial psychologist after taking a trip to Britain. She then married a British psychologist and spent their summers in the north. This is where most of the setting in Crow Lake occurs. Mary Lawson has received six awards for her two novels, Crow Lake and The Other Side of the Bridge. Lawson has lived in Britain since 1968. She married a British psychologist and raised two songs. Her novels are both set in northern Ontario, because this is where she spent many of her childhood summers. The stillness and majestic landscape left a major impression on her. Crow Lake took more than five years of writing. Lawson was confident and satisfied with what she wrought, so she sent it off to publishers. For the next three years, Lawson collected rejection notices, then an agent took an interest in the book which caused a bidding war among seven other publishers.  Lawson is a strong believer in the strength of the influences we receive as children, this is a major theme explored throughout the novel. Her parents got sick with cancer so she spent a lot of time in Canada. She started writing Crow Lake shortly after the death of both of her parents, and her sons leaving home. This is a major influence on Lawson's story line in Crow Lake.