Church of the Dog

Kaya McLaren

7/2/2008

After her fiancee charged her $10 for gas to take her to the hospital, Mara O'Shaunnessey knows it is time to be true to herself and leaves. She takes a job as an art teacher at a rural Oregon school. She stops by the Grand Canyon over the summer before going to Three Hills. Although a vegetarian, the first thing she does in the farming town is buy a hog at the county fair. Then she is able to get lodgings with Earl and Edith McRae.

Earl and Edith have been married for sixty years or so. They raised their grandson after their only child, Sam, and his wife died in a truck accident. Eight-year-old Dan had survived the wreck physically, but emotionally he also died a little that day. Soon after he finished school he kept driving and left Three Hills and his grandparents. He went to work on the Alaskan fishing boats. Earl and Edith also grew inward to themselves. Their lives had been fraught with upheavals but they keep going, caring for the ranch and hoping that the grown Dan will return.

Now Earl knows the lump on his neck is probably a tumor, but he doesn't want to get it checked. He refuses to have chemotherapy or to die in a hospital. He doesn't want to tell Edith or Dan, either. Instead he keeps caring for the ranch and taking care of his wife like he has all these years.

Mara brings a spirit of peace and joy with her. That spirit spreads to Edith and Earl and her school children. She gets Edith to go horseback riding with her. She has Earl teach her to dance. Earl writes to Dan in Alaska and asks him to come visit the ranch while he is in between fishing seasons. Although reluctant, Dan knows it's time to return.

Church of the Dog is a wonderful tribute to families of all types. It is poignant and radiant. The story is told from Mara's, Dan's, Earl's and Edith's points of view. Each first person narrative is prefaced by the name of the narrator. Sometimes the sections are short, sometimes a few pages long. It is also broken into the seasons, starting with summer. Kaya McLaren has written the narratives simply, easy to follow.

I didn't care for all the New Age mysticism in the book. Mara uses it to maintain her spirituality and positiveness. It is the overwhelming sense of the book. Edith is Catholic, and Earl and Dan have rejected the church since the death of Dan's parents. If you look over my choice of reading, you'll see I like books with a hint of the supernatural. Church of the Dog takes its mysticism too seriously.

The change in Earl and Edith is touching. He believes he is dying and realizes that he's been frozen for too many years. He loves his wife and wants her to know it rather than just assume it. Mara is the touchstone that brings about the changes but it's there in them waiting to be found. Dan's story as he comes to terms with his life and finds his family hits home.

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