The
Other Mrs. Smith by Bonnie Burstow
Inanna Publications, 2017
447 pages.
In late October, my novel The Other Mrs. Smith—a novel centred on electroshock—was
published. The fact that the release of such a novel was newsworthy became
evident shortly after its launch. I was approached by CTV National News Channel
for an interview (http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1270212)
But days later, I was approached by Amy Pitt for an interview. What follows is
the edited version of the second interview; I invite the reader to peruse and ponder it:
AP: This novel traces the life experiences of one highly successful woman
who falls prey to electroshock. What inspired you to write it?
BB: In the early 1980s, I was part of group that held hearings into
electroshock. And those hearings were an incredible eye-opener. I had known
people who has been subjected to electroshock, but the few I knew were men. And
so while I had certainly seen terrible damage—nothing like what I witnessed from
the legions of women at this hearing. The extent of the memory and other losses
was horrifying. And that was the start of my becoming highly involved in the
fight to ban electroshock. What followed were decades of research, articles, and
activism. Now at one point in the mid 80s, it looked like we had the
electroshock industry on the ropes. Then we lost the interest of the press and
the public and never got it back. Anyway, after decades of research and
activism, I remembered the power of art and embarked on this novel. Could a
novel, if powerful enough, lead to a public outcry against shock?, I wondered. So
what was my inspiration? Very real people
and the very real damage done to them.
AP: Primarily, you wrote it from the perspective of Naomi, the
protagonist, who suffers from enormous memory loss. How did you go about
writing a novel from the perspective of someone who can’t remember much of
anything?
BB: That was the struggle; and that, the gambit. As I was keenly aware,
all instructions on how to write novels warn you against writing from the first
person where the person has been severely damaged or traumatized. And I could
totally see why. Nonetheless, I knew from the get-go that this was the only way
to do it if the reader was to end up really understanding. So I took the plunge. Decided to write it from inside the head of a
brain-damaged narrator. And indeed, writing from the first person virtually
forced me into her perspective.
AP: Did you have to employ any special strategies to tell the story?
BB: Well there was no problem getting into her head—none, for I had
been making common cause with shock survivors for decades. The issue was: How
was she to tell a story when she cannot remember? Also, how do I ensure that
reader does not get drowned in her
problems? What did I do? I started employing two devices early on in the
project. One was to switch back and
forth between pre-shock days—when her memory was good—and her post-shock life. The
second was to invent point-of-view characters and allow the novel to
occasionally drift into the third person narrative from their points of view—for
that way we could learn the odd thing that we that we needed to know but that
Naomi was in no position to tell us. Those were the two main devices. But even doing
that did not come close to addressing the biggest problem facing me. The point
is, narrating a novel primarily from within the head of someone who could not
remember her story was crazy-making for I kept running into dead ends. Anyway, a
couple of years into the project, I decided: I can’t take this any more. I want
my life back. And I can get my life back. All I have to do is stop writing this
novel. Then it hit me like a thunderbolt: Yes, I can’t get my life back. But
shock survivors cannot get their lives back. Which means that I have to
continue and to do it well. Herein lie
the moral imperative. And once I took that in, I solved problem after problem.
And in the process, the novel grew richer and
richer.
AP: I get that. Let me ask you something somewhat different. They say
that all writing is autographical. Where’s Bonnie in this?
BB: Besides the concern over shock? Like the protagonist, I spent most of
my life in two cities—Toronto and Winnipeg. Now Naomi loves Winnipeg, not
Toronto, and I’m the opposite. So I asked myself, if you loved Winnipeg, what
would you love about it? Also I found myself drawing on the type of arguments
that my best friend and I have when I scripted quarrels between Naomi and her
sister. One way or another, your life always flows into the fiction that you
write, and in the absence of that, you just cannot write anything deep.
AP: I’ve heard you refer to this as very much a Canadian novel. How so?
BB: Two Canadian cities come alive in the novel, Toronto and Winnipeg—especially
Winnipeg. We are led to shiver at the cold Winnipeg winter. We are introduced to
the legendary flooding of the Red River. Aspects of Canadian history—the
Winnipeg General Strike, for instance—are frequently referenced. We experience
Kensington Market in its heyday. We get a taste of Newfoundland. So, yes, this
is quintessentially Canadian. Let me just add, it is at the same time a Turtle
Island novel, if I may call it that. An Indigenous theme runs throughout. We
witness the oppression of Indigenous people. We make the acquaintance of a
remarkable Indigenous man named “Jack”. And we see Indigenous wisdom. When
Naomi does not know what to do, she calls to mind Jack—and suddenly, she knows.
AP: Which reminds me, this novel has a huge rich cast of well
developed characters. Who’s your favourite and why?
BB: Hands down, Naomi. That said, if I were to choose another, it would
be Ger. Ger is a trans man. He is also the kindest and most sensitive soul in
the novel—the sort of guy we would all dearly love to have as a friend. And we
see him thoughtfully make the connection between his struggles and those of
other oppressed people. And then there is his uncanny eye. He realizes early on
that there is a secret lurking between the lines in some writing of Naomi’s
known as Black Binder Number Three. But let me ask, Amy: Who’s your
favourite?
AP: One of the many characters that I love is Naomi’s father. His
kindness, his spirituality, his open-mindedness, his connection with nature. My
favourite scene is when he takes the girls outside to feed the birds. It
reminds me of my own father. You know, we can all identify with your
characters, for they link up one way or another with our own lives. Okay, a more
literary question: How’s this novel different from the other famous novel about
electroshock—One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s
Nest?
BB: Let me say from the outset, that Kesey’s is a truly terrific novel
for Kesey is an exceptional writer. At the same time, his novel does not provide
either an intricate or an accurate depiction of electroshock. On one level, we
are left with the impression that electroshock mainly befalls men, when two to
three times as many women as men are shocked. Moreover, women are way more
damaged by it. Nor is there any exploration of the damage done. Now it is a
fascinating novel, but I would have to add, it is also a sexist novel. The primary
adversary in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s
Nest is Big Nurse—a woman, in other words, not the patriarchal figures who
actually have the power. By contrast, in The
Other Mrs. Smith I lay bare the reality of electroshock. In other words, my
novel is once experiential, true-to-life, and what goes along with this, a
feminist novel. I was trying to show what happens to women in this patriarchal
society and what happens to women with electroshock—the sheer violence against
women involved.
To move beyond the question of Kesey, you
know, every woman survivor that I have ever known—and I’ve literally known
hundreds—have overlapping stories to tell. Which leads me to this point: While the character Naomi is
very individual, there is a way in which some version of what befalls her not
only has befallen many women, but
beyond that, could happen to any woman. You know, the morality plays
mounted in the Middle Ages typically contained a character called “Everyman”.
And, as unique as Naomi is, what we gradually come to realize, if I may coin a
term, is that Naomi is “Every-Woman”. What happened to her happened ultimately
for no reason other than that she is a woman. So we see the plight of
Every-Woman in Naomi. We also see the wondrous strength of Every-Woman. A
testament in itself to the beauty of the human spirit.
AP: Yes, we do indeed see her heroically and brilliantly rebuild a life.
Bonnie, congratulations on writing an exceptional novel. You have written a
highly lyrical novel. You have provided a sobering account with such grace and
tenderness that it speaks to the paradox of what it means to be human. There is
something here for everyone.
BB: Humour, pathos, ingenuity, comraderie, activism, mystery, insight.
AP: All and all, a stunning work of art. And I imagine many people will
be itching to dip into it over the holidays. So one more question: Where can
one pick it up?
BB: From libraries. From the publisher’s website (https://www.inanna.ca/catalog/other-mrs-smith/),
from Amazon. Also, from local bookstores. For example, in Toronto, Book City on
the Danforth has the equivalent of signed copies.
AP: Good to hear. Congratulations again.
