Perhaps a Canadian Holden Caulfield

Catholic New Times, Oct 24, 2004 by Colleen Crawley

A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews; Knopf Canada, 2004, 246 pages.

In A Complicated Kindness, Manitoba writer Miriam Toews explores the dangers of religious fundamentalism through the sardonic voice of 16-year-old Nomi Nickel.

Half of Nomi's family, "the better-looking half," has disappeared from their small Mennonite community in southern Manitoba. Nomi lives with her father, Ray, a sad and peculiar man, in the town of East Village. She and Ray are "two little islands of grief" as they try to deal with their abandonment by Nomi's mother, Trudie, and sister, Tash.

Nomi struggles to understand why her mother and sister left East Village and, more importantly, why they left without her. The closer she comes to unveiling the truth, the closer she comes to her own devastation.

While Nomi's quest to know and understand the destructive forces around her is the main conflict in the novel, the setting provides much of the tension that propels the story forward. East Village is ruled by a Mennonite minister, "the Mouth," who is also Nomi's uncle. His fanatical rule, the judgmental nature of the townspeople and the inherent suppression of joy in the community under the guise of religious correctness, cause the terrible erosion of Nomi's family.

The main street in East Village leads nowhere, acting as a metaphor for the town's restrictive nature.

"There's a blinding white light at the water-tower end of it," Nomi explains, "and Jesus standing in the centre of it in a pale blue robe with his arms out, palms up, like he's saying how the hell would I know? I'm just a carpenter ... On the other end is a giant billboard that says 'SATAN IS REAL. CHOOSE NOW.' Main Streets should lead somewhere other than ternal damnation They should be connected to something earthly, like roads."

"A Complicated Kindness" has just been nominated for the prestigious Giller Prize for literature. Miriam Toews' major accomplishment in this, her third novel, is the originality of Nomi's voice. This narrative is not just another tale of teenage angst; neither is it another condemnation of small-mindedness in a small town. Nomi's descriptions of her town and family are laugh-out-loud funny and deeply disturbing at the same time. Her wit is at its height when she describes her Mennonite heritage. "As far as I know, we are the most embarrassing sub-sect of people to belong to if you're a teenager," she says.

She ponders what she sees as the absurdity of Mennonite rules. Billy Joel's okay but the word "heck" isn't. "Reach for the Top," fine. "Swiss Family Robinson," no way." She uncovers the dark side of her culture. Golf is an acceptable game, she says, "because it consisted of using a rod to hit something much smaller than yourself, and a lot of men in this town enjoyed that sort of thing."

Nomi's complexity is compelling. She is seen by her teachers and church members as a hopeless case, a lost cause. She fosters this image by shaving her head, flunking out of school, and by a final act of defiance which causes her ultimate rejection, her being shunned, by the town.

Through the use of first-person narration, in an accomplished piece of sub-text, Toews reveals an extremely intelligent and warm Nomi whom the town does not see. Her memories of her mother are filled with love and longing. She is devoted to others who are also suffering (her father, her best friend, a grieving neighbour). She is dying for want of love.

Even in a town that misunderstands and condemns her, Nomi sees "a complicated kindness" in the eyes of her neighbours. In her most desperate moment, she dreams that she and her dad, her mother and sister will one day be together again. "Is it wrong," she asks, "to trust in a beautiful lie if it helps you get through life?"

Tragically, Nomi Nickel seems to be martyred in order to bring salvation to those she loves. In this tragedy, Nomi's hopefulness will break your heart.

Colleen Crawley teaches English literature St. Peter's Secondary School in Peterborough. She recommends this novel for high school curriculum.