INSIDE THE KINGDOM December 20, 2017 the Chronicle Section B – 16 Pages Mosher leaves a masterpiece Points North, short stories by able to cast the Canadian First Howard Frank Mosher. Published Nation actress Tantoo Cardinal as by St. Martin’s Press; 202 pages in his leading lady. Ms. Cardinal, paperback. who first came to the attention of U.S. audiences in the film Dances Reviewed by Chris Braithwaite with Wolves, has just returned to the screen in the Netflix series “Points North,” the 12-page “Godless.” That’s a western worth story that opens Howard Mosher’s watching for lots of reasons, in latest — and last — book is a small these troubled times. But the best masterpiece. reason is the chance to get It is a story about Freeman and reacquainted with Ms. Cardinal, W, about an old black man and his who settled for a time in the mixed-race grandson, the product Northeast Kingdom after making of Freeman’s “ex-daughter” and a Mr. Craven’s film. father described as “trash from the no-count Lord Hollow branch of the The story “Points North” stands Kinneson family.” firmly on its own two feet. I don’t They met when W was six, recall meeting Freeman or W in sitting on Freeman’s New Canaan earlier Mosher books. They’re the doorstep with a note pinned to his sort of people Howard admired and overalls: “Over to u.” befriended throughout his life in To tell the story would be a the Kingdom. When confronted disservice to the author and his with the powers that be, they don’t readers. It is enough, perhaps, to so much challenge authority as say it is at times very funny, at shrug it off. other times quite sad, and at its They aren’t inclined to make conclusion triumphant — in an speeches, and never bother to understated, Howard Mosher sort explain themselves. That makes of way. them pretty hard for a writer to The dialogue is all that well- capture on paper, and Howard’s written dialogue should be. The ability to do so is what makes him briefest exchange gives the reader stand out among contemporary a glimpse of years of the sort of writers. accommodation people are forced to Howard was a very deft man make to each other, if they are to with a pencil, and in “Points North” survive their proximity. he manages to generate maximum Here’s how the relationship emotional power with a minimum begins: of emotional falderal. Read it, and After surveying the foundling you’ll see what I mean. silently for a few moments, There are some details in that Freeman said, “Do you like to fish?” opening story that link Points “I don’t mind,” the boy said. North to Mr. Mosher’s body of “Get in the boat,” Freeman said. work. W is, after all, a Kinneson, contemporary issues in the “Say what?” Charlie said. even if from the no-count side of Kingdom. “Where is Don Quixote?” “Dispossessed,” Jim said a little It seems entirely fitting that the family. Beginning with Mr. is a about a farmer’s reaction to the louder. “We’ve been dispossessed.” Mr. Mosher chose to end his Mosher’s treatment of the infamous wind towers that sprout on the writing career with a collection of Irasburg Affair, his novel A edge of his property, and his That story also contains a self- short stories. It is what he did Stranger in the Kingdom, the relationship with the Mexicans who reflective joke. Howard finished best. Kinnesons feature importantly in milk his cows. this book against a tough deadline When, as an aspiring young several of his books. In “Dispossessed” Jim and in late 2016 and early this year — writer, he offered a collection of And one could read the rest of Charlie confront a loss that may be a diagnosis of terminal cancer. stories to his agent he was the Points North collection as a all too common in the remote In “Dispossessed,” Jim reflects discouraged. Publishers aren’t novel. The family appears in all forests of Essex County that have on a story about a logging camp keen on short stories, he was told, ten of the stories, particularly the come into government hands. The owner who got a sleepy young particularly not from unknown brothers Charles, the judge, and camp the Kinnesons have hunted riverboy out of bed by tossing authors. These are very good Jim, the editor. from for generations is suddenly dynamite onto the woodstove. stories, he was told, but if you want At times Mr. Mosher uses the padlocked, a sign posted on the Mr. Mosher continues: to get them published, you need to stories to provide background to door warning them to keep clear. Jim had tried to pry the quarter publish a successful novel first. earlier mysteries, as in “What Pliny At excerpt: stick of dynamite anecdote into So Howard wrote Disappearances. Knew,” the longest piece in the … Charlie fetched the splitting more than one of his stories but It was a successful novel, and book. axe from the woodshed. He knocked maddeningly had never found a deserved to be. It stands, in my And at times he uses them to the hasp and the new lock off the way to make it fit. Anecdotes that frail memory, as my favorite wrap up unfinished narratives, as camp door with one short blow with didn’t fit into a story organically Howard Mosher novel. in the wonderful “Lonely Hearts.” the back of the axe-head. stood out as conspicuously as a Then he was able to publish Here he returns to Jim’s Wordlessly, he tore down the black eye. He made a mental note Where the Rivers Flow North, his relationship with Frannie, the “condemned” poster. Inside the to use the tale in his current book- collection of stories. These are French Canadian high school camp he crumpled the poster into a in-progress. At seventy, if he superb. girlfriend who abandoned him in ball and threw it into the cold wanted to shoehorn in a logging Mr. Mosher’s last novel, God’s firebox of the Glenwood. anecdote, he by God would. A footnote: Jay Craven made Kingdom, for a full scholarship to “Kindle,” he said. his best of several Howard Mosher McGill University in Montreal and Jim looked at his brother. He Well, Howard shoehorned it in. adaptations into a movie of that her ambition to be a doctor. glanced around the camp, built two Laughing out loud, I pictured him, name. I don’t think Mr. Craven did It’s as close as Mr. Mosher ever hundred years ago by their great- pencil in hand, bent over a yellow full justice to any of Howard’s came to being corny, but he great-great grandfather, his foolscap pad at his kitchen table in books, but he came closest with recovers by making the story namesake James “Rebel Jim” Irasburg. And I by God heard him Where the Rivers Flow North. hilariously funny. Kinneson. He said something, not chuckle. That was chiefly because he was Some of the stories deal with quite audible. IN THIS WEEKLY SECTION, YOU’LL FIND: BIRTHS l WEDDINGS/ENGAGEMENTS l OBITUARIES l KINGDOM CALENDAR l CLASSIFIED ADS l RESTAURANTS & ENTERTAINMENT l REAL ESTATE & AUCTIONS l YOURS FROM THE PERIMETER l RUMINATIONS l AND MORE! Page 2B the Chronicle, December 20, 2017 Ruminations A maple take on a Christmas classic by Elizabeth Trail For reasons too complicated to go into, we children always slept over with our grandparents on Christmas Eve. With carols on the record player, we played a series of old-time games, starting with Hide the Thimble, then Blind Man’s Bluff, and finally one called Pretty Bird My Cup, which mystifies me to this day. The person who was “it” filled a thimble with water and secretly picked a color. Then “it” went around the circle, facing each player and asking “Pretty bird my cup, what sort’s yours?” The person who named the secret color got a face full of water. I saw this game recently on a campfire website, and I guess we got lucky. Outdoors, it’s played with a bucket. There was a certain strategy involved. Sometimes “it” would go for an exotic color like “puce” or “aquamarine” and keep everyone guessing three or four times around the circle. But other times, players would start with hard colors and a simple answer like “blue” would be completely overlooked. The water in the face always seemed to me like an incentive to guess wrong. And the possibility of sibling vengeance always raised a trust issue. But the game remains an indelible part of our Christmas memories. I still have the thimble. Then there were sweets — Mae made After a few experiments, I came up with a maple syrup version of my grandmother’s traditional cornflake and fruitcake and peanut brittle, divinity fudge and peanut butter ball recipe for the holidays. Photo by Elizabeth Trail candied walnuts. There were cornflake and peanut butter balls, and cookies, and of course all of the assorted store bought Christmas candies. Just the other day at the grocery store, I And third, it was achingly sweet. Granted, I My grandmother wasn’t one to ration the treats, chatted with a man who was buying the don’t like things quite as sweet as I used to, but so we ate until we could hold no more, washed ingredients for a batch of the classic peanut this was a bit much.