The Lynching of Peter Wheeler<\/i>
\nby Debra Komar
\nFredericton, NB:Goose Lane, 2014
\n346 pp, $19.95<\/p>\n
Debra Komar, a former forensic anthropologist, illuminates Canada\u2019s past once again in her second historical true crime narrative. Peter Wheeler was found guilty of murdering 14 year old Annie Kempton in Bear River, Nova Scotia in 1896. The story details the crime and aftermath, including the villagers\u2019 participation in the rumors and lies leading to Wheeler\u2019s hanging. Komar believes exploring \u201chow and why\u201d Wheeler was falsely accused and convicted is more compelling than attempting to figure out the actual killer. She also asserts in the preface \u201c…this is the first factual public examination of the case since his trial and the first credible attempt to challenge his conviction.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was Wheeler\u2019s misfortune to discover the murder victim. A well-travelled labourer born on an island off the African coast, Wheeler, aged 27, had settled in the Maritimes village, boarding at an unmarried woman\u2019s home. When Nicholas Power, a Halifax-based detective assigned to the murder case, arrived to the scene, he immediately decided Wheeler was guilty. Power is depicted by the author as rigid and self-serving.<\/p>\n
The newspapers played a shameful role as well, marking Wheeler as guilty from the start and even fabricating his jailhouse \u2018confession.\u2019 Journalists were not about to let the truth get in the way of a good story\u2014even at the cost of a man\u2019s life. The weaknesses within the judicial institutions are also exposed under Komar\u2019s sharp gaze\u2014from the inexperienced coroner to the court room professionals. A jury found Wheeler guilty based solely on circumstantial evidence. Wheeler claimed he was innocent to the very end, yet his sentence was upheld in a final appeal at the federal level. Komar also describes people who tried to bring reason and truth to the situation\u2014but they were few in number and ultimately dismissed.<\/p>\n
Komar meticulously traces the lives of key people involved, bringing the distant past to life through the smallest details. She deciphers technical reports and testimony in a way which is accessible to the reader and gives a rich dimension to the narrative. The prose is concise and fast-paced, with 46 short chapters\u2014starting with setting the scene (And So It Begins) to Wheeler\u2019s execution (\u201cLord, I Am Coming\u201d). The last three chapters describe the aftermath of the execution and the author\u2019s reflections. Photographs and newspaper illustrations are also included, as well as sources and an index.<\/p>\n
Komar\u2019s relish at digging for the truth comes through, though she sometimes loses impact when overstating a point, such as her contempt over the newspaper coverage. It\u2019s a story that \u201cruns the gamut of negative and painful emotions,\u201d she observes in her summation, \u201cfear, prejudice, lust, deceit, cowardice, indifference, insecurity and unfathomable rage.\u201d In this gripping story aimed to clear a man\u2019s good name, Komar succeeds in delivering timeless lessons for the reader to ponder.
\nHow Does a Single Blade of Grass Thank the Sun?<\/i>
\nby Doretta Lau
\nGibson, BC: Nightwood Editions, 2014
\n120 pp, $19.95<\/p>\n
Lau takes risks in her lively collection of short stories, inviting the reader to imagine young Asian Canadians who are sassy, guilty, funny, angry and much more. The poetic title of the book is also the final story, previously short-listed for the Journey Prize. A character with the moniker \u2018Sick Man of Asia\u2019 narrates. He describes life hanging out with his \u201cChinger\u201d pals who are \u201cSlanty-eyed teenage disappointments with no better place to haunt but the schoolyard….\u201d The writing sings with teen slang of an Asian bent, as the group taunt each other and scheme on \u201cLotusland\u201d (Vancouver) streets.<\/p>\n
In \u201cRobot by the River\u201d a character named Oliver Andrews provides the female narrator with a diversion when her Japanese boyfriend leaves Vancouver. When Andrews introduces himself, there is a \u201cpause\u201d between the two. He then explains he is a Korean adoptee, \u201c…as if I had queried the dissonance between his surname and his appearance.\u201d A story of love and separation follows.<\/p>\n
A more humorous plot evolves in \u201cTwo-Part Invention\u201d when a single woman decides to date dead men. She sets her sights on the late Toronto-based pianist, Glenn Gould. In the process the reader learns a fair amount of true information about the internationally acclaimed\u2014and eccentric–musician.<\/p>\n
Vancouver is the dominant setting for these stories. The Burnaby ghost at Deer Lake, the Sugar Refinery live music venue and the historic neighborhood of Strathcona are among familiar landmarks mentioned throughout, sometimes in detail. This gives place an importance, in contrast to characters grappling with belonging. Lau possesses an impressive talent and beneath her often playful writing there is much for the reader to consider. In his first collection of short stories, Winnipeg author Gonzalo Riedel provides concise, snappy situations with ordinary people who, more often than not, make bad decisions. They commit crimes, live outside the mainstream or have unworthy thoughts which lead to wrongful deeds. Riedel gets inside the head of these characters and as a result, readers gain insights in to their motives.\u00a0The prose is spare, each narration leading to an end that jolts or twists. Child acrobats from Russia appear in \u201cThe Trained Performers.\u201d A sudden unscripted tightrope performance leaves the reader in suspense up to the final sentence. \u201cClubbers\u201d tells the story of a man\u2019s collapse after taking a recreational drug and the reaction of the drug dealer who is responsible. Male fantasies are played out in \u201cA Matter of Degrees\u201d as Adam provokes a brawl with his rival over a love interest at a \u201cdowntown dive that pulled in a crossover crowd of either punks or old prairie rednecks, depending on the night.\u201d In \u201cThe Escort Agency\u201d Paul nervously sets up a paid encounter with a woman over the telephone. The voice of the man he calls to arrange the service is \u201cdeep, impatient, ambiguously accented.\u201d Paul\u2019s tentative feelings become out of control by story\u2019s end.<\/p>\n The content of each story is original and contains humor and truth. Developing a stronger presence of place, such as Winnipeg, would give more dimension to this otherwise thoughtful and entertaining collection.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Historical Crime and Fiction Reviews The Lynching of Peter Wheeler by Debra Komar Fredericton, NB:Goose Lane, 2014 346 pp, $19.95 Debra Komar, a former forensic anthropologist, illuminates Canada\u2019s past once again in her second historical true crime narrative. Peter Wheeler was found guilty of murdering 14 year old Annie Kempton […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2359,"parent":93,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1491","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1491"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2425,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1491\/revisions\/2425"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/93"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u00a0Behaving This Way Is All I have Left<\/em>
\nby Gonzalo Riedel
\nLondon, ON: Insomniac, 2013
\n119 pp, $19.95<\/p>\n