n  The smell of cut grass and gasoline reached her, deeply reminiscent, reassuring… and sad. Everything is fucking sad. It’s sad to be conceived. We start to die the moment we’re born.n

I chose this quote to represent The Way the Crow Flies because it succinctly represents the style the novel is written in. And, if you feel at all connected to this sentence, you have a good chance of enjoying the novel’s overall tone—or at least, of refraining from crying.

In The Way the Crow Flies, Madeleine McCarthy, the daughter of an air force man and his picture-perfect wife, is a grade four student whose innocence is swiftly taken when her teacher begins sexually abusing her and several of her female classmates. This story occurs in tandem with a broader story about the air force and government intelligence in the 1960s. With a 700-page book, it is near impossible to tell you everything that takes place, and even more so with this book, because the writing is so profound and every word can be seen as significant and connected to multiple themes and events throughout the novel.

It’s not a perfect book. I’m sure that some readers would criticize it for being melodramatic, but I think it’s anything but. Sure, a lot of sad things happen. A lot. But, somehow, all of them are plausible. Nothing happens that makes me roll my eyes and question it. Child rape, injustice, gender inequality, homophobia, broken families, illness, death. It all happens all the time, and yet, people are quick to claim that it’s unrealistic to write about. In a way, I can understand that, because some authors intend to sensationalize, but not Ann-Marie MacDonald. She writes from a place of knowing, or she’s really good at faking it. Like, really good. In the same way that Fiona Apple is an icon of the anorexic scene, MacDonald is an icon of the child sexual abuse survivor scene. Not categories anyone wants to be part of, yet categories lots of people are part of.

But I cannot begin to express how interconnected and seamlessly woven the plot of this novel is. Even on a line-by-line basis, the author writes something, only to reference it in a gut-wrenching way several chapters ahead. Sometimes, a sentence of a few measly words refers back to three different themes or events, leaving you with your jaw dropped and a knot in your stomach. And this keeps happening, for 721 pages.

I read MacDonald’s earlier book, Fall on Your Knees, in 2009, so 10 years ago. It has a sub-4.0 rating on Goodreads, and this book’s rating is only marginally higher. I put off reading The Way the Crow Flies out of a fear that I wouldn’t like it, that this low rating meant I was missing some fatal flaw in her earlier novel. But frankly? I don’t get why the rating is comparatively so low. Sure, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but with this author, her books are so well-crafted that I am in constant awe while reading them. The only explanation I can think of is that the books are just too damn sad. And I get that.

This is the kind of book that makes you swear you’ll never read another sad book for the rest of your life. Like reverse candy. Instead of being too sweet, it’s too bitter. But you can’t get past the fact that it’s plausible. It’s real. And that fact hurts more than anything the author herself could write.

I’m clearly drinking the Ann-Marie MacDonald Kool-Aid. And all I want is more. But maybe not for another 10 years.

n  We go to the same well to grieve and it’s fuller every time.n

This is one of the best books I've ever read. I'm seriously sitting here wondering how Ann-Marie MacDonald isn't one of the most famous authors of our time. I will definitely be reading Fall on Your Knees in the near future.

It's absolutely heart-wrenching, and you will need to put it down a few times to calm yourself, but it is brilliantly written. The characters are so well developed and the setting is so vivid. I loved every moment in these 810 pages.

This is one of my favorite books. WOW! It took me by surprise.

"The birds saw the murder. Down below in the new grass, the tiny white bell-heads of the lily of the valley. It was a sunny day. Twig-crackling, early spring stirrings, spring soil smell. April. A stream through the nearby woods, so refreshing to the ear - it would be dry by the end of summer, but for now it rippled through the shade. High in the branches of an elm, that is where the birds were, perched among the many buds set to pleat like fresh hankies."

From the first sentence, the author has you. There is a murder and it haunts you through the entire novel. And yet, Ann-Marie MacDonald has made this book much more than a murder mystery. It is about values, morality, innocence lost, loyalty and deception. Despite it's dark themes, there is also a brightness about this book.

"Outside the car windows the corn catches the sun, leafy stalks gleam in three greens. Arching oaks and elms line he curving highway, the land rolls and burgeons in a way that makes you believe that yes, the earth is a woman, and her favourite food is corn. Tall and flexed and straining, emerald citizens. Fronds spiralling, cupping upward, swaddling the tender ears, the gift-wrapped bounty. The edible sun. The McCarthy's have come home. To Canada."

Perhaps it is her beautiful prose. Perhaps it is because she captures, so well, the feeling of growing up in the sixties. Whatever it is, it gives the reader a sense of hope. MacDonald is an expert story-teller and I found it difficult to put this book down. I'll just read 60 pages, then 100, then just a few more, until I knew I needed to get to bed. Luckily, I have a wonderful husband who let me escape after dinner into the Canadian world that this author laid out for me.

An amazing story! It was hard for me to put this book down. Even though there were some very disturbing scenes to read and it breaks your heart and you just want to scream tell someone!!!! The writing was superb. I felt I was right there living the life with these characters.

This was a was very sad and at times disturbing story of Madeleine, a young girl that is sexually abused by a teacher in the early 1960's. Her father is an officer in the Canadian Air Force, and is involved in some cold war espionage that he can not divulge to his family. Her mother is a French Canadian with old fashioned depression era sensibilities. Her brother suffers from the burden of many young men, trying to win the approval of his father. They befriend a German family, that they later find out are Holocaust survivors. When one of Madeleine's friends is found dead in a field, all of the different plotlines begin to intertwine in often unexpected ways.

First off, this novel is extremely well written. As the story unfolded, it gained momentum at a steady and tense pace. The several seemingly divergent plot lines were engaging and well developed and came together effectively.

Thematically compelling elements were grief, trauma and loss of innocence. The process of grappling with mortality and loss are very deeply and graphically explored from several different perspectives. Also, the experience and psychological impact of abuse and atrocities are portrayed with great detail and subtlety. The backdrop of post WWII cold war fear and paranoia added another layer of tension and intrigue to this dark yet beautiful tragedy.

Another element that bears consideration is the question of the needs of the many taking priority over the needs of the few or the one. (nod to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

I highly recommend this book, but be forewarned that it's impact will linger.

Olipa tarina. Voisi sanoa, että ”elämää suurempi romaani”. Tätä on vaikea edes arvostella, mutta sanottakoon, että oli melkoista tunteiden vuoristorataa jopa kaltaiselleni tunteellisuutta karttavalle lukijalle. On nautinnollista lukea hyvin kirjoitettua tarinaa, jossa on sekä mukaansatempaava juoni että syvempää tematiikkaa, joka saa lukijan pohtimaan muutakin kuin ”mitähän seuraavaksi tapahtuu”.

(deep breath) Wow.

#1: writing was really amazing
#2: spot on insight into children's world from child's point of view, along with ability to communicate from child's perspective; if you are a woman, you know that girl, and you may find you were that girl
#3: So many interesting layers; I appreciated the Canadian insecurity, both inward focused (everybody thinks we're lame - and we kind of agree), and outwardly focused (look at what we've done to gain respect, and why don't we have it yet?) I also appreciated the layer that asks, "what is bravery", and challenges your preconcieved notions of who will be brave.
#4: Why is it that so many stories with strong little girls wind up with them being molested?
#5: I thoroughly enjoyed the book and thought I knew "who dunit" until that last 30 pages, then I realized I was actually reading a horror story, where I wound up going from practically comfortable to practically puking in about 5 minutes. It was that powerful.

Some of the most thoroughly best overall writing I have experienced in some time. Some folks get the atmosphere, and some folks get the characters - this woman gets 'em both. Atwood's got competition on my bookshelf.

Decided to try one of Good Reads recommendations. Was a little daunted by the book's length but that would be the only negative comment I could make. And at the end I was sorry to leave this great narrator and the story she told. This is a wonderful read. A mystery is the nugget in the middle but more it is a coming of age tale, a coming of age and a loss of innocence for each of the characters in different ways. The secrets hidden and revealed, the ones we carry, the times we wish we could do over, the ones we hurt, deceive all in the hope to protect others and save ourselves. This could have been a very depressing story but somehow it circled this at times but mostly I found it realistic and woven together so well I could only admire it even when the content was disturbing, sad and sometimes frightening. Can't wait to try another of the recommendations.. Plan to go back and read this author's first book also.

Wow! What a read! I was fascinated by this book. From start to finish, I was captivated by the rich descriptions and character development. Although the subject matter became distasteful at times, I felt I owed it to myself to finish the story, which I am so glad I did. Like real life, the story is unsettling; unresolved; gritty. The way the author intertwined the lives of each character was masterful and often unexpected. I "read" this book on audiocassette which was performed by the author herself. Without the larger than life character portrayals and impressions, I'm not sure I would have responded so well to it. Two weeks and another book later, I still find myself thinking about the lives and the tragedies revealed. Secrets, lies, good intentions, and how we cope with it all are examined, and somehow, found justifiable as just a part of life; just a part of what it is to be human. I look forward to reading it again to see how it impacts me then and what other insightful tidbits I can gleam.

this book is NUTS. 811 pages later, i don't know if i have the energy nor the intellect to write a proper cohesive review so i'll just get some thoughts down here.

- SO much going on, and yet macdonald manages to pull it all into a cohesive narrative. the book spans over 20 years and addresses numerous adjacent historical events throughout, but it all comes down to this: what happened to the children of centralia during that one school year.
- the author does a phenomenal job at capturing a child's perspective/voice. the way of thinking, the silliness, the naivëté.
- i also loved the characterization of each of the main 4 mccarthy family members, and in particular the lovely relationship between madeleine and her dad.
- definitely could have been edited to be shorter & neater (but not by too much -- this book works best at great length).
- extraordinarily immersive; you really feel like you are living in centralia in the first 3/4 of the book. (perhaps especially immersive for myself as someone born & raised in southern ontario, which lends a special familiarity/nostalgia to the text.)
- at the same time, there were a lot of historical & pop culture references that i didn't understand, as the entire book takes place in a time before i was born. i think if i had lived through the 1960s in canada i would have loved this book a hundred times more.
- would have been a five star book if not for its last quarter, which is set 20 years into the future as madeleine is an early-30-something living in toronto and developing a career as an comedian, yet just barely beginning to unpack the horrors of what she went through in her childhood. in my opinion, the author chose to focus too much on things that were not as interesting/relevant such as the details of madeleine's career. this is also the segment of the book that needed editing the most, with numerous paragraphs and chapters that just felt extraneous. i think this section could have been so much better, as it is definitely interesting to explore the impacts of childhood trauma in adulthood, and the difference between a child's and adult's perspective (as madeleine starts to rethink the claire's murder with new eyes).

themes: difficult choices & their consequences!!!!!, family & familial love (we see many different kinds of families in the PMQ, some with lots of love and some with very little), the power (and fallibility) of memory, what can happen to children when they suffer terrible things, morality and what fault can be attributed to children who do terrible things

This book is incredible written and very descriptive. Even though the content is disturbing. It’s hard because you want to give it 1 star for how disturbing it is but you know it deserves more because of the incredible writing and character building. The last quarter is hard but I’m glad I stuck it out and finished it.