The Cartographer of No Man's Land

The Cartographer of No Man’s Land by P. S. Duffy             595 Pages

I won a copy of The Cartographer on No Man’s Land back in the early Fall 2014 from Shelf Awareness. Immediately, I read the first couple of chapters. As I read, I knew that this was a book that I want to save until holiday vacation time. The beauty and depth of those first chapters made me aware that this was not a novel to be rushed through---although at times it was tough---but to be savored and enjoyed. This debut novel is all those things…and more

It’s 1917. World War I is raging across Europe, especially in the trenches in France. Back in Nova Scotia, Angus McGrath sails the coasts fishing and hauling as his father has done before. Ebbin, his brother-in-law, joined up and hasn’t been heard from in months. His wife, Hettie, is beside herself with grief.

 Angus enlists, going in search of Ebbin. He has been assured that he will not be in the thick of battle, but that he will be behind the lines, probably based in London as a cartographer. This surprises Angus as no one has ever thought his drawings were good.

Seems the Canadian recruiters are much like the American recruiters. They’ll promise young people anything to get them to sign on the dotted line. Needless to say, Angus winds up in the trenches, where replacement officers are needed.

Readers will get a true sense of war from this story. The landscape is decimated and dangerous by bomb craters, divided by the trenches and barbwire. The towns and farms are deserted. Forests are charred. Artillery shells burst around and over the soldiers. Clouds of gas roil obstruct the ghastly view.

Oscillating between Angus’s point of view and what’s happening back home, readers can almost get a true sense of the war and its toll on the families.

Although Duffy is a journalist, this haunting, debut novel is beautifully written and seductive as it pulls readers further and further into the story.  I would give The Cartographer of No Man’s Land six stars if I could.