The Innocents

by Michael Crummy

This book has been getting a lot of acclaim.  It was on the short list for the Giller Prize.

This was a very interesting book.  It is the story of two young children, living in a bay in Newfoundland who are left orphaned and to fend for themselves when their parents die.  The boy is 12 and the girl is younger.

The kids are really innocent and there is no one else around to help them or teach them.  The girl doesn't have any idea what to do when she eventually gets her period.  Sometimes they sleep together to keep warm... at times they engage in foreplay kind of activities not understanding what it is or why or that it might not be a good idea.

They work really hard and eke out a living, fishing and gardening and collecting berries.  A supply ship comes once a year and the boy takes the salted fish harvest to the ship as his father did before.  They get some supplies of flower, salt, etc.  The supply ship people are concerned about whether they will survive but the boy insists they will try for a year or two

The children buried their parents at sea, a young sister died and she is buried near the family garden.  The young girl was around when the baby was born and later hears her mother say she would like to kill herself (post-partum depression).  The girl is traumatized by what she saw her mother suffer in the birth. The young girl talks to her sister often.

They have a number of strange adventures... they see a ship stranded in the ice one day. When they go to it they find out all are dead on board, the boy discovers evidence of cannibalism but doesn't tell his sister about this.  They take some wood, clothing and other supplies from the ship and take it back to their house.

On another occasion the boy gets ill and they the girl gets very ill.  The boy feels she will die but through some chance of fate a ship arrives and a man and woman help to nurse the girl back to health.  The man also shows the boy how to use his father's gone to shoot animals and to set traps for animals.

Later another ship arrives, seeking wood for a replacement mast.  The leader and his men stay with the boy and girl for a time  The crew are quite raunchy, the leader regales the girl with stories of the many countries he has visited.  At times the girl and this man spend some time together and the crew suggest they are having sex.... they don't

After they leave the boy and girl go back to their usual lives but one day the boy is almost drowned when a storm comes up when he is fishing.  He survives and and as the girl is trying to warm him up they end up having sex.... they have no idea where a baby comes from.  The girl thinks there can be virgin births, the boy thinks it might be the boat leader's.  As the book ends we learn that the baby girl is told the boy is her uncle.

This was a very interesting story, the language, the descriptions of life at the time, etc. and the portrayal of the two young ones was almost like something from the bible.... Adam and Eve.
This was a beautiful but sad book, powerful and gentle, kind and brutal at times.  Very impressive and memorable.