Under the Mountain

by Sophie Cooke
Cooke has framed this novel by the dining room window that Catherine, the central character, looks out from her sick bed. We are told early on that what we are about to read is Catherine's memories (pg. 4: “Her memory was tumbling backwards . . . “), but most of the happenings in the novel are not within her view. She did see the attack on the dog. Where did she get the rest of her information? Did other family members tell her stories? Did she make stories up to ease the disappointment of being bedridden most of the summer? Can we trust the narrator? We can forget that Catherine is sitting on a stoop remembering that summer until we reach the end of the book where we are brought back full circle. Then we start to realize that there are things Catherine shouldn't know about: her parents' sex life, for one thing.
A clever layering of language and story was when Natasha, Catherine's mother, complains to her husband that he “hides behind his words” because he uses lofty, academic language that appears to but isn’t necessarily meant to genuinely communicate. Cooke’s prose often mirrors George’s style.
I didn't enjoy reading this book, but I have enjoyed thinking about it and writing about it. It's not a book that I would recommend to all of my friends, but I look forward to discussing it in my book discussion group.