Sanctuary Line

Sanctuary Line by Jane Urquhart 226 pgs.

Set at the Butler Farm, her family's now deserted farmhouse on the Canadian shores of Lake Erie, entomologist Liz Crane narrates in melancholy and moving prose her recollections of her family, particularly summers spent throughout her childhood.

 “We were in and out of the house and in and out of the lake all day long in the summer, always running, often together and joined by a gaggle of my cousins’ friend, the screen door banging behind us and driving the mothers mad.”

Liz has moved back to the family farmhouse which is situated close to the nature sanctuary where she is studying the migratory pattern of monarch butterflies.  The butterflies often serve as a metaphor for the loss and beauty described in this novel.  The author evokes such a strong sense of place, it made me nostalgic for the countless summer days spent with my cousins at my grandparents’ farm, and yes banging screen doors and making aunts and uncles mad.

Though relatively short, it took me several weeks, starting and stopping, to get through this book due in part to the slow pacing of the book and time constraints on my end but I found myself wrapped up in the novel’s atmosphere and wanting to know what happened that summer when Liz’s uncle disappears.  The ending was unexpected, provocative, and worth the time invested reading.