I started off wanting to talk about how this was *the* Canadian novel, but since Canada is a colonial concept, I realized that the comment was off-base, especially since I can’t recall a single reference to indigenous people in the pages of this book.

Two Solitudes is written about people stuck between the “two solitudes” of French Canada and English Canada: between french catholicism and english protestantism, between agriculture and industrialization, between rural and urban life. It tells the story of a Canada that, in my experience (an anglo who lived in BC my whole life), isn’t as prominent as it once was, but whose . Studies show that Quebec separatism is less popular now than it was in the past, despite the surge of Bloc Quebecois popularity in the last federal election.

Two Solitudes is a beautifully written book that has beautiful descriptions of Canada and Quebec, and masterfully written character arcs through the story that build empathy for the characters so subtly that you hardly realize how much you care about them until the end. But in thinking about this book for a review, it brings up complicated feelings, because it was well enough written to make me feel patriotic, to make me appreciate the colonial history of Canada, and the conflicts that have plagued it. But that this book makes no meaningful reference to indigenous people is troubling for me. It seems to reflect the “ideal” Canada that was the aims of generations of colonizers on both sides of the “two solitudes”.

I think I would recommend this book, as it is well-written, and captures one aspect of our national, colonial history in a way that is interesting, and engaging, but recommend it be paired with an indigenous history book -- “This Place: 150 Years Retold” is one I haven’t read but have heard excellent things about, or “The Orenda”, which takes place during the earliest stages of colonization.