Our Lady of the Forest

Have nearly finished Dave Guterson's 'Our Lady of the Forest' and what a damn fine read it has been!

Set in the dank forests of the Pacific north-west, near a run-down logging town populated by the disillusioned and feckless (think 'Shameless' meets 'Axe Men'), it tells the story of Ann, a frail, runaway, asthmatic teenage survivor of chronic sexual and drug abuse. Scratching a living by finding chanterelle mushrooms in the forests' undergrowth, she finds herself receiving 'visitations' from the Virgin Mary. Before long she has attracted the attention of the bored, the curious, the religious and the exploitative. One is never quite sure about the provenance of these sightings: are they induced by her constant self-medication for her various ailments? Stoner flashbacks? Desire for attention? Or her subliminal longing for a non-judgmental mother who will protect her from what her own flesh and blood failed to?

It's beautifully written and Guterson evokes well the menacing atmosphere of both the forest and of the increasingly hysterical swarm of pilgrims that gather, plaguing her to intercede for them. I'm not sure how it will end.

He has assembled a cast of pretty unappealing characters: Tom Cross, the surly ex-logger whose driven machismo has led to his son's quadriplegia in a work-related accident; Father Collins, a young but rather world-weary priest who finds himself attracted to Ann rather more than just spiritually; Carolyn Greer, a cynical new-ager and Ann's self-appointed spokeswoman who cares neither for Ann nor her visitations just so long as she gets a cut of the profits, and Father Butler, a gimlet-eyed doctrinaire who is intent on certifying the girl as a fraud or psychotic.

I just hope it's not one of those books that run out of steam in the last few chapters. There are a number of themes running through the book: can they be brought to a satisfying and united resolution? I hope so!