The Cure for Death by Lightning explained

The Cure for Death by Lightning is the debut novel from Canadian author Gail Anderson-Dargatz. It was nominated for the Giller Prize, was awarded the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, and became a bestseller in Canada (selling over 100,000 copies) and Great Britain (where it won a Betty Trask Award).^[1]

Plot introduction

Set in an isolated farming community in Shuswap Country,^[2] British Columbia at the end of the Second World War it is a coming of age story containing elements of magic realism.^[3] Fifteen-year-old Beth Weeks has to contend with her family's struggle against poverty but also her increasingly paranoid and aggressive father whose behaviour leaves the family as outcasts in the community. A number of unusual characters appear in the book, including Filthy Billy, a hired hand with tourettes and Nora, a sensual half-Native girl whose mother has an extra little finger and a man's voice.

The title of the book comes from one of a number of household tips and recipes belonging to her mother which appear as asides throughout the book, while Beth's mother withdraws from reality and talks with her dead mother; leaving Beth to be sexually molested by her father.

Reception

• The Boston Sunday Globe described how, "some first novelists tiptoe. Not Gail Anderson-Dargatz. She makes her debut in full stride, confidently breaking the rules to create a fictional style we might call Pacific Northwest Gothic."^[4]
• Canadian Literature quarterly criticizes the "somewhat ponderous plot" but praises the "acuteness of vision" and "sharp rendition of the breathless, sensate moment" as the "magic in the ordinary" is revealed.^[5]

Notes and References

1. http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307363886
2. Web site: Interview with Jack Hodgins - Canadian Literature - Fiction - Short Stories - Novels.
3. Web site: Books at Random House of Canada The Cure For Death by Lightning by Gail Anderson-Dargatz . www.randomhouse.ca . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060527082303/http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780394281803 . 2006-05-27.
4. Web site: Gail Anderson-Dargatz . www.randomhouse.ca . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20030609005414/http://www.randomhouse.ca/newface/dargatz.php . 2003-06-09.
5. Web site: Book Review | the Cure for Death by Lightning by Gail Anderson-Dargatz; the Lusty Man by Terry Griggs | Canadian Literature . 2012-06-03 . 2013-01-15 . https://archive.today/20130115065827/http://canlit.ca/reviews/auspicious_beginnings . dead .