Under the Visible Life

Starred review from April 6, 2015
Echlinâs 2009 novel The Disappeared was shortlisted for Canadaâs prestigious Scotiabank Giller Prize, and her talent is on full display in this lyrical, exciting story of two women and their lifelong relationships with music and with each other. Mahsa Weaver-Najibullah was born in Pakistan to an American father and an Afghan mother. Katherine Goodknow is the product of her Canadian motherâs affair with a Chinese migrant worker. Echlin paints difficult early lives for both girls in the 1940sâMahsaâs parents are murdered, and Katherineâs mother is put in a reformatory for immoralityâbut both girls find solace in the piano, teaching themselves to play as children. Their worlds get closer when Mahsa is sent to Canada to attend university, and these two characters who share so much finally cross paths at a jazz club in New York City. Echlin discusses the sacrifices required from women, and the strength these particular women draw from music. Over and over, Mahsa and Katherine are saved by music, find love through music, and through music "feel the unfurling beauty of the world." Echlinâs excellent novel introduces two complex women who sometimes succeed and sometimes suffer, and whose stories are moving from start to finish.