Throughout a 40-year career of undisputed brilliance that has brought him universal acclaim and awards too numerous to count, David Adams Richards has proven himself a master chronicler of humanity’s tortured journey through a confusing and unforgiving modern world. Very often his characters find themselves in morally untenable or dangerous situations, brought about by their own weakness in the face of temptation, or through gullibility or trusting too easily, or through agencies beyond their control. Many are trying to elude the long reach of past misdeeds and poor choices. His men tend to be weak and indecisive, his women strong-willed but misguided. Everyone is unlucky. Richards’ novels, which veer toward tragedy of Shakespearean proportions, are populated by morally compromised individuals facing impossible decisions. More often than not, they are seeking ways to do the right thing, but inevitably the odds are stacked against them. In Mary Cyr Richards presents a character whose fatal flaw is an impulsive and secretive nature combined with a caring disposition that time and again compels her to defend those who are disinclined or unable to defend themselves. Mary is the heiress of a New Brunswick family that has amassed a fortune in real estate, shipping, mining, oil and other ventures—her financial and ancestral pedigree is recounted in detail in the novel’s opening chapters. But, though wealthy, Mary has not led an easy or simple life. For one thing, she has been hounded by death: losing her father in a plane crash, her mother to alcoholism, her son to an accident for which Mary must bear some responsibility, two husbands to misfortune and old age, and two close childhood friends, one to illness and another to misadventure. For her entire life she has been beset by restlessness, unsure of her role in the family, plagued by guilt and lingering resentments. The event around which the novel is framed is a mining disaster in Oathoa, Mexico; the mine is part of the Cyr family holdings. Mary, in her forties when the novel’s main action takes place, ventures to Mexico in the wake of the disaster carrying almost $2M in cash with the intention of helping the families of the dead miners. What she doesn’t realize is that she is venturing into a stinking morass of corruption involving the mine’s president, his avaricious and ruthless wife, along with members of the local police force and government officials, all of whom are connected to an international criminal enterprise engaged in drug trafficking, prostitution and murder. Mary’s good intentions mean little once the body of a boy is found in her room at the resort where she is staying. A convenient scapegoat, she is charged in the boy’s death on nothing but supposition, jailed, and denied bail as a flight risk. The tale that Richards conjures from this setup is complex, intricate and often harrowing. Mary’s family sends former bodyguard John Delano to Mexico to dig into the circumstances surrounding Mary’s arrest and try to get her freed. But John’s investigation is impeded at every step by those whose interests are served by keeping Mary behind bars. John has his own complicated personal history, closely intertwined with the Cyr family and Mary in particular. The story proceeds at a measured pace, with twists and turns aplenty, frequent shifts of perspective, and much exploration of the past. We are also introduced to a sizable cast of characters: residents of Oathoa who are suffering because of the mine disaster and who are drawn into Mary’s circle, as well as police, thugs, and Cyr family members, friends and acquaintances. One element of the story that Richards returns to again and again is Mary’s reputation as the black sheep of the family, the media’s fascination with her sometimes indiscreet and often puzzling behaviour, and unfortunate decisions she has made that have embarrassed the family and reduced her life and exploits to tabloid fodder. Mary herself is often presented as the misunderstood object of prurient public curiosity. More than anything else it is this reputation for bad behaviour that, as she awaits her fate in a Mexican jail, plays into the hands of her enemies and makes it possible for them to spread salacious rumours about her that are accepted as gospel truth. Mary Cyr, the novel, is compelling up to a point—events engage our interest, the suspense builds, and the chilling narrative raises intriguing questions about culpability and redemption. But there are also moments when the author seems intent on pushing his characters and his story where he wants them to go. This is most evident in instances when new characters appear out of nowhere, ciphers with no emotional depth introduced for the sole purpose of adding a wrinkle to the story and moving the action in a pre-determined direction. In other of his novels, we observe, tormented by suspense, as Richards allows his characters to walk, knowingly or in ignorance, toward a tragic fate that seems natural and inevitable. In this novel, Richards the writer is too obviously guiding the action toward a desired denouement. The manipulation can be transparent and heavy handed, with the result that the novel falls short of being totally satisfying. David Adams Richards has certainly earned the right to do what he wants on the printed page, and there are always rewards to be found in reading whatever he writes. Mary Cyr is no exception. Despite occasional sermonizing, some predictability, and the fact that it depicts human behaviour at its most ugly and craven, the novel is intensely readable. But to anyone approaching this author for the first time, the best introduction to his work remains the novels that comprise the Miramichi Trilogy. ( )

Mary Cyr is an orphan in a large extremely wealthy New Brunswick family that has made its money in newspapers, mining, forestry, oil and gas and related industries that leave them open to attacks from environmental activists and anyone opposed to the English, French and Acadian role in the development of the Marimachi, New Brunswick and Canada. Mary's father died when his plane crashed when she was ten. Her mother, a British war bride became an alcoholic and was hounded out of the family by her in-laws. It was said Mary suffered a head injury as a child causing a brain injury. She was also molested by a teacher resulting in a pregnancy All of this explains the way she lived her life.

The crux of the story in "Mary Cyr" is a cave-in at a coal mine in Mexico that is partially owned by Mary's family. The local owners don't want to excuvate to rescue trapped miners as this will show they didn't use $14 million sent by the Canadian company to upgrade the safety of the mine, but took it for personal use. So they close over the entrance. However there is proof that the miners are still living which results in the murder of two young children. Mary is charged with murder and arrested. From here the quality of the Mexican police and legal system take over and innocence no longer matters.

Through an old friend of Mary's and her diary the events of Mary's live are laid out. The racist views of Mary and her associates are laid out in such a way that they come full circle and show the bigotry and ignorance of those who protest against industries working in the environment field, e.g., mining, oil, gas. Academics who have never been out of the classroom but know what is best for Native People, and using the stories of girls and women who have been sexually assaulted for publication.

When you look at the parts I have laid out it is hard to imagine how it all comes together in a cohesive manner with a story that will keep you reading through some of Adams Richards digressions on the circular arguments on the environment, roles of historical explorers and the social scientists. I did get lost a time or two but the tie in is to Mary's upbringing, the dinner discussions, the events in her young life at boarding schools and to the lack of parental guidance this wealthy young woman received.

I have a personal pet peeve that relates to authors who add a second language without providing a translation. I don't know if what I, a unilingual reader, am missing. Through out most of the book Adams Richards is very good at providing a translation of the Spannish he uses, he slips a little near the end. However, although it is acknowledged in a dinner discussion that not all Canadians are bilingual he does not provide a translation of the French phrases he uses.

"Mary Cyr" is a multilevel read, the mystery surrounding the mining accident and how Mary Cyr happened to be in Mexico, the events of her live from about the age of ten as laid out in her diary and related by John Delano, her family and it's business and the discourse that accompanies the action. It works, and it is what one expects from this national and international award winning award author. ( )

David Adams Richards has long been one of my favourite Canadian authors. His Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul I have designated as one of the books all Canadians should read (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/2015/07/from-schatjes-reviews-archive-incidents.html). His latest novel, Mary Cyr, focuses on a minor character from Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul; also appearing is John Delano who is the protagonist of Principles to Live By (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/2016/06/review-of-principles-to-live-by-by.html). Neither of the previous books has to be read in order to understand Mary Cyr.

Mary Cyr, the 45-year-old heiress of a multi-million-dollar fortune is charged with the murder of a young boy while she is in Mexico. Though she is innocent, she becomes a scapegoat because the Cyr family, through its Tarsco Mining Company, invested in a coal mine where 13 men recently died after it collapsed. Amigo, the Mexican company which owns the mine, was given $14 million by the Cyrs for safety upgrades but Amigo executives misappropriated all the funds. It is, however, easier to blame the Cyr family, rich foreigners, than investigate the corruption of the local officials. Mary is seen as a representative of the family, “a woman who on paper was partial owner of this mine” (8) and so the locals transfer all their anger onto her.

There is little credible evidence against Mary and “Tallagonga [the prosecutor] had no intention of prosecuting until she found out who Mary Cyr was. Then they filed the charge, called her guilty and looked for a lifelong prison sentence because she was on the board of Tarsco Mining” (82). And Mary is a perfect scapegoat because her behaviour in the past leaves her compromised. For example, she was implicated in the deaths of two people. And then there are the rumours about her seducing engaged men and her son being fathered by Mary’s beloved grandfather.

The focus of the book is revealing the truth behind the exaggerated rumours and sensationalized gossip. Through flashbacks and entries in Mary’s diary, the image of a deeply wounded woman emerges. From a young age, she was largely misunderstood; she was also bullied and abused and betrayed. “She was always alone – or nearly always alone” (63). This does not mean she is innocent; she often seeks revenge for injustices committed against her or those she cared about. For instance, she does indeed seduce an engaged man but she does so to take revenge on Marianne, the man’s fiancée, “the girl from long ago who had teased Denise Albert [Mary’s childhood friend] to distraction because Denise had wanted to dance one dance with Marianne’s beau” (361). It is emphasized, however, that though Mary “was a good hater, . . . in her compassion she could hate no one at all. No one at all!” (119) and “In fact at the end, she could not hate a soul” (269). She takes revenge on three girls who tormented her, her cousin, and a friend, but afterwards, “she sat in a corner, tears in her eyes. She knew it was a terrible thing to do – in fact she wrote in her diary it was the worst victory she had ever had” (280).

The book examines the process of scapegoating. In the end, it is suggested that Mary “had lived to show the falseness and tragedy of scapegoats.” Eventually, those guilty of using her as a scapegoat would “as they had with so many through the ages, from Joan of Arc to Anne Frank, and with so many in camps and prisons and dark places of the soul, and with so many of our prophets to whom they would wail and beg forgiveness and forget they had ever played a part in their fate” (369). Mary herself says, “’I saw more and much deeper than other people, so I was often accused of their crimes’” (352). Sometimes, like in the Joan of Arc parallel at the end, the imagery is a little heavy-handed. It is also mentioned that Mary stuffs newspapers in her clothes so “her whole life of scandal [is] stapled to her chest” (417) but “Underneath all of it her naked body was shiny white” (418).

As in his other books, the author lashes out at those he disdains. Mary rails against people “using today’s wiles to draw and quarter those poor sons of bitches who lived in another time and bourn us” (192). There are comments about Canada: “As always in Canada, one is not caught between two worlds but between three or four – not between two competing interests but a multitude” (66). The author even dares to compare French language concerns in Quebec to pre-occupation with Aryan purity in Germany: “’they are after French purity like others cherished certain Germanic qualities. Oh, they won’t say that, but their politicians will demonstrate it. Someday I bet they will have laws in Quebec against having English on signs – and call it progress’” (68). David Adams Richards, who writes about the Miramichi, even indicates how he feels as a writer: “Years ago the Miramichi writer who she liked but who she could never read told her that they both were the kind of people who did not belong” (379).

There are some coincidences that are troubling. A guest at the Mexican resort where Mary is staying turns out to have a connection to Mary from her childhood. Perhaps Mary had kept track of this person, as she was wont to do of others, or perhaps the coincidence of meeting her years later “’is the will of God’” (372)? And then there’s the incident with “that bottle” (363); how often does a bottle with a message find its target across an ocean?!

David Adams Richards has a deep understanding of the human condition and human behaviour. This is evident in this novel as in his others. Mary Cyr is not perfect but it is worth reading; in some ways it is like a detective story in which the goal is to reveal the real Mary Cyr. And it warns us against judging others on the basis of superficialities or stereotypes or fake news and against singling out people for unmerited blame.

Note: Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski). ( )

I tried, I did. I gave it a valiant effort - I tried to just settle in, breathe and get into the story. But I just couldn't do it - I was either going into a coma or was being really frustrated and annoyed with the over use of, "that is". "That is..." would appear sometimes 3x on one page. I was ready to hurl the book against the wall - didn't the editor have those feelings too??

I tried to let Mary Cyr's story envelop me, there were a few moments where she made me want to continue, but I found those moments were too often repeated. I was reading the same moments over and over again. I couldn't see myself reading through 420 pages of those same moments, or, that is, I was bored to tears. :-( ( )