Crow Lake

Crow Lake is a 2002 Canadian bildungsroman set in a rural farming community in northern Ontario. It is author Mary Lawson’s debut work and earned her the Books in Canada First Novel Award and the UK McKitterick Prize. The novel focuses on the Morrison siblings, who are orphaned when their parents are killed by a logging truck. Kate, the second-youngest member of the family, narrates the novel in first person. Her narrative alternates between the present day and the year following their parents’ death. 

In the present day, Kate is working as an assistant professor of zoology and pursuing a life with her boyfriend, Daniel. Kate is riddled with shame regarding her childhood, making it difficult for her to disclose information about her family and her past to Daniel and forcing Kate to consider what influence the past still holds over her life. Sections set in the past take place approximately 20 years earlier, when Kate is a grieving seven-year-old. Kate’s older brothers, Matt and Luke, make the decision to keep the family together rather than sending their young sisters to live with another branch of the family. The novel covers the financial and emotional troubles the family encounters, particularly focusing on the events that tie the Morrisons to their neighbors, the turbulent and troubled Pyes.

Although the novel falls into the category of contemporary literary fiction, it also engages with aspects of historical fiction. Kate gathers stories about the history of her own family and of the other families in the community, connecting the actions of past generations with the future of Crow Lake.

Plot Summary

When Kate is seven, she and her siblings (Luke, Matt, and Bo) are unexpectedly orphaned. They live in the farming community Crow Lake, where their closest neighbors are the Pyes—including the father, Calvin, the son, Laurie, and two daughters, Marie and Rosie. For generations, Pye men have beaten and abused their children. The Morrisons’ Aunt Annie arrives to help around the house, but none of the family can afford to care for all of them, and the siblings will have to split up. Luke has been planning to attend teachers’ college, but he decides to forgo higher education and keep the family together instead, allowing Matt to finish high school and earn a university scholarship.

Luke has a flirtation with Sally McLean, the daughter of his employers, but after he rejects her, he is fired. It becomes apparent that Calvin is beating Laurie with escalating violence. Luke and Matt fight over jobs and money, leading to a fight in which Luke accidentally dislocate Matt’s shoulder. After this incident, they resolve issues with greater mutual respect. Luke begins working as a school janitor. Matt earns a scholarship and starts planning to leave Crow Lake.

After a fight with Calvin, Laurie leaves home on a freezing winter night.

One day, Kate sees Matt and Marie together, apparently immediately after they had sex. A few months later, Marie arrives at their home, crying that she’s pregnant. She reveals that Calvin caught Laurie and beat him to death. Luke calls the police, but after they arrive at the Pye farm, Calvin shoots himself. Matt and Marie get married, have their son, and move to the Pye farm. Matt never goes to university.

As an adult, Kate—now zoology professor—still has trouble accepting that Matt never went to university although her love of learning came from him. Kate receives an invitation to Matt’s son’s 18th birthday, but she is hesitant to invite her boyfriend, Daniel. The event is very important to Daniel, so Kate brings herself to extend the invitation. Before leaving, she has a crisis of faith, feeling that she is a much worse teacher than Matt would have been in her place. She is visited by a student who tells her that she’s considering dropping out because she feels her rural family doesn’t understand her, prompting Kate to appreciate that her own family always encouraged her continued education.

Kate and Daniel drive to the old Pye farm, where Matt, Marie, and their son Simon now live. While at the party, Marie tells Kate that Matt is happy and that the only thing souring his happiness is the feeling that Kate never forgave him for not going to university. Kate realizes she has caused the distance between herself and her brother and begins to accept that Matt’s life is not a tragedy.