The Certainties is exactly the kind of dreamy, poetic novel that I find it so easy to fall in love with. It’s a style of writing that I adore but I also know that it isn’t for every reader. This novel reminded me of others I loved like Lampedusa, A Month in the Country, or Lanny. Hunter is a Canadian author who attended our local Writers Fest a couple of years ago. I helped her at the bookstore without knowing who she was and we chatted over the brilliance of Eimear McBride. Style is key in The Certainties.
Which isn’t to say there’s no plot. Simply that if you are looking for a story that takes you from A to B, this might not be it. There are two overlapping tales here, swooping in and out of each other, each illuminating the other. In one, three travellers arrive in a village in Spain. It is 1940 and they have crossed the border illegally and when they try to leave the village, they are held and questioned. The narrator is a scholarly, slightly older man, weighing his past and what he must do next. He is in danger and he knows it but he is also deeply observant and thoughtful of his surroundings. He notices a little girl, Pia, walking through the village with her mother.
Decades later we meet Pia as an adult, living on a remote island where she deals with the aftermath of her chaotic childhood. A storm has swept over the island and a boat has not returned to shore. As we learn about Pia’s life on this island and the details of her childhood in Spain, she joins the recovery effort, choosing to make sure that every detail of what has been lost is recorded.
Hunter moves between these two timelines and characters clearly but fluidly. Pia and our unnamed narrator in 1940 never speak but their stories feel inextricably connected. This is a story about war and trauma and the smallest moments that we can never escape. This is a story about remembering – the painfulness of it but also the necessity.
In her afterword, Hunter explains about the real life events and people who inspired the characters in The Certainties. She also shares the experience of writing this book as her husband was dying. In many ways, this novel which would would not be classified as a romance, reads like a love letter. There is a grief and emotion woven through every word that brings it power and heartbreak that is hard to describe.
Karissa Reads Books 
Oh man, she wrote this book while her husband was dying? Ugh, no wonder there is grief and joy and love woven though it, so many emotions! Very cool you helped her at the book store without realizing it 🙂
I had such a good bookish conversation with her that when I later learned she’d been in the store, I knew immediately that it was her!
love those moments! They feel so special
This sounds really interesting – it’s hard to pull off a dual narrative well, but it sounds like this manages it. Very cool that you got to chat to her without realising!
The thing with meeting authors is that you can love their work and still have no idea what they look like!
I remember heading into the civic theatre when I worked there, and walking right past Ntozake Shange, standing on the stoop, smoking, thinking, “THAT’S NTOZAKE SHANGE.” I can’t imagine talking to her and not knowing who she was; that would have added an extra cool element!
I was so happy that we had a good, bookish conversation and had bonded over shared taste. I would have been way more self-conscious if I’d known who she was!
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