Having read Julia Phillips’s debut novel, Disappearing Earth, with its lush descriptions of a place no one has heard of before (a remote Russian peninsula called Kamchatka, where one goes for “bears and volcanoes”), I wanted to read her newest. Bear is set on the scenic island of San Juan in Pacific Northwest on several acres of land that belonged to the grandparents of two sisters, Sam and Elena, born a year apart. They dream of getting off the island and finding a different life. Their plans are turned topsy-turvy when their mother develops health problems from long exposure to toxic fumes in a beauty salon. Both adore their beautiful mother, so they refuse to pull her away from everything she’s known. The sisters postpone their dreams to care for her, remaining in their low-level, dead-end jobs that barely keep the family afloat. Then, the pandemic hits, and their economic situation declines further.
Things change when Sam, while at work on a ferry, spots a bear swimming in the channel. She tells her elder sister, and everything changes: the relationship between the sisters, their mother, and their newfound relationship to the bear which enchants Elena. She develops—much to Sam’s dismay—a somewhat mystical attachment to the animal, a sense that it is her spirit animal.
The story is quite loosely based on the fairy tale, “Snow White and Rose Red,” which also involves two sisters. A touch of unreality contrasts with the hard-core reality the sisters face trying to make ends meet. Bear is told in the point of view of Sam, the younger sister, who is somewhat distant and a bit misanthropic who fears the bear will change her relationship with her sister; Sam’s abrupt manner and self-absorption raise the tension and ominous tone. Bear is quite short at 289 pages, an easy read but one that will stick with you.
********************
Bear (Hogarth, June 25, 2024) is available through:
********************
You can read my review of Disappearing Earth here.
********************
This post may contain Amazon Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small amount from qualifying purchases at no cost to you.
