By Jonathan Greenbaum
The Crane
by Monica Kidd
Breakwater Books (2025)
Over the years several Canadian novelists have written about Americans who fled to Canada to evade the draft in the Vietnam war (1965 to 1973). These writers include Robert McGill (Once We Had a Country, 2013), Louis Caron (The Draft Dodger, 1980), and David Bergen (The Time in Between, 2005). In both our literature and our folklore, Canada is usually portrayed as a northern refuge for American men who refused to fight in Vietnam.
Monica Kidd, a multidisciplinary writer and award-winning journalist based in Calgary and St. John’s, has now given us her iteration of this novelistic genre. The Crane, set in 1968, recounts the story of James Anderson, a twenty-two year old American man. Following the death in Vietnam of James’s brother, Dave—James receives his draft notice for the war. Torn at first by conflicting loyalties, James decides to leave Southern Butte (Wyoming) and travel surreptitiously to St. John’s, Newfoundland (NL) where he has been told he will be safe. James does not want to be killed in Vietnam.
The scenes in the novel alternate between Southern Butte, several American locales, and places in NL. As we get to know James, we realize that in some ways he is a “refugee” from his life.
…when they asked him [James] where he was going and he said Canada and started to talk about how after this war there would always be another one, how he couldn’t trust himself to know what he wanted, and maybe all he wanted was a place for everything to stop. [p. 234]
James is a foreigner in St. John’s. What will happen to him there? Will he find work? Will he make friends? How does he see himself in this place? These are some of the central questions in the novel.
Then there is the mystery symbolized by the crane of the title—a wooden image of a bird given to James by his brother, Dave. The small carving had belonged to a soldier named Eric—a fellow soldier who fought with Dave and died in Vietnam. James is tasked with delivering the bird to a person he doesn’t know. If he succeeds in his mission, he will learn the mystery behind the crane.
Kidd manages to pull together in her narrative the diffuse settings of the story. Her writing throughout is generally strong. In my view, Kidd’s best writing is found in her descriptions of places and events in NL. For example, this description of James’s arrival in St. Johns:
…he walks towards the harbour, in the direction that must lead Downtown. There are trucks and cranes and pallets of goods and men shouting to one another and massive ships covered with tarps in for repair. [pps. 8-9]
In addition, Kidd’s account of the scuttling of The Calypso, a rotted-out ship, is extremely well done. We feel we are witnessing the destruction of the decommissioned ship. James observes the event, and his reaction to what he sees tells us much about him.
In many respects, The Crane reads like a historical novel. The Canadian characters portray the nature of life in NL in 1968. The reader is given plenty of historical and cultural information about the province. Here is Kidd’s narrator:
And other things were changing [in NL]. Last year divorce had made it to the province. The church here remained powerful, and before the new legislation people who wanted to divorce had to apply to the federal parliament with a private bill. [p. 107]
Doubtless, some readers will appreciate these historical footnotes. Others (and I include myself in this category), will feel that repeated information of this kind slows down the forward tilt of the story.
There is much in The Crane for a reader to sink their teeth into. Ultimately, the reader’s interest in and empathy for James Anderson will be the measure by which they weigh the success of this novel.
Jonathan Greenbaum is a retired Ontario high school English teacher. His short fiction has appeared in The Nashwaak Review. He is currently seeking a publisher for his short fiction manuscript.