Andre Alexis - Pastoral

The realm of the spirit was, decidedly, becoming strange to him.

As he walked along the road to Barrow, Christopher Pennant was reminded of the day, some five months gone, when he had walked into town for the first time. He had been entranced by the world around him. He was still entranced, but there was a difference. On this day, he was no longer certain he wanted to remain in Barrow. Five months previously, he had been charmed by this, his first parish. More recently, the thought had come to him that, perhaps, Barrow was not enough. It was as lovely and as interesting as any town could be. Its inhabitants were mainly good people. Its rituals were commonplace, save for those that were not. And the life of the town was almost certainly enough to sustain his interest, at least for a time. But what about the land? The land was wonderful and absorbing, but there were other kinds of plants elsewhere, other moths, other butterflies, other beetles. Having become adept at cataloguing and drawing the world around him, it was natural, wasn’t it, that he should be curious about Nature in other places?

There was a partial solution to this dilemma, of course: a greenhouse. Heath had suggested that the one way Lowther did not want his money used was for the construction of a greenhouse, but Christopher Pennant was not convinced Heath was right. After all, as Heath had said, Lowther trusted Christopher’s judgment. If Christopher Pennant wanted a greenhouse, why should there not be a greenhouse in Barrow? Priests were always going on about charity, but why not give something deeper: a place where anyone could go to witness the thrilling variety of Nature’s gifts? Anyway, he would think about it. There was no need to quickly spend the money he’d been left.

Looking over the land, Christopher Pennant thought of the priests who had preceded him in this country. They had been among the first Europeans to explore Canada. They had come with a mission: to lead the natives to Christianity and salvation. In their single-mindedness, they had done as much harm as good, poor men. They would have done better to learn from those who knew the land. Instead, they had prepared the way for a civilization that had, over the years, turned away from earth, land and ground. He did not identify with the Jesuits but neither did he identify with any specific tribe. Rather, he envied the ones — whoever they might have been — who’d come through this part of the world when it was virginal.

As he walked into Barrow, somewhere around seven o’clock, evening was in the early stages of suffusion. The world was not yet dark. It was beautiful: a hint of winter in the air, the lights of the town coming on as its inhabitants, each in his or her own time, became aware of the coming darkness.

London, England, 2009

Quincunx 1

Pastoral is, in part, an homage to Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony, the Pastoral Symphony. The novel’s chapters follow the logic of the symphony whose five movements are entitled:

1. Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the country

2. Scene at the brook

3. Happy gathering of country folk

4. Thunderstorm; Storm

5. Shepherds' song; cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm

The Pastoral Symphony is also inextricably associated — in my mind — with Lambton County, where I grew up. This novel is, thus, a paean to the place where I first learned what Nature was to mean for my Canadian self.

André Alexis was born in Trinidad and grew up in Canada. His debut novel, Childhood , won the Books in Canada First Novel Award, the Trillium Book Award, and was shortlisted for the Giller Prize and the Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. His previous books include Asylum, Beauty and Sadness and Ingrid and the Wolf .