The Retreat by David Bergen

In the summer of 1973, eighteen-year-old Ojibway man, Raymond Seymour, enjoyed a carefree, solitary life. He enjoyed the pleasures of his young girlfriend, Alice Hart, his cabin near Bare Point, his job at the local golf course, and his eighteen-foot aluminum Lund boat. While Alice and Raymond shared a strong and loving bond, one man despised their relationship, and decided to take matters into his own hands. Alice’s uncle, Constable Earl Hart, warned Raymond that his brother, Alice’s father, did not want the couple to be together anymore. Earl Hart also stated that he was prepared to enforce this wish. After catching Raymond and Alice together again, Earl took Raymond out on the lake and dropped him off on an island, without food, shelter or transportation. Raymond battled the elements for nine days until he was rescued by the crewmen aboard a barge.

In June of 1974, Lizzy Byrd and her family traveled east from their home in Calgary to spend their summer at a resort known as the Retreat, just outside of Kenora, Ontario. Ever since four-year-old Jack “Fish” Byrd was born, Norma, the mother, had suffered from a deep depression. As a result, the family decided to take a vacation to restore the bond they once shared with each other.

In the novel The Retreat by David Bergen, the Byrd family encounters new difficulties and challenges as Norma falls in love with Doctor Amos, as Lizzy enters Raymond’s life, and as a scuffle between Constable Hart and the Seymour brothers escalates to manhunt and death. As the Byrd family searches to revive their family unity, they find that the place that was supposed to bring them together only separates them further apart.

Two things that worked well in this novel were Bergen’s description of the injustices natives face, and the irony of motherhood between Norma and Lizzy. Throughout the novel, Bergen shows how poorly natives are treated, through the events that Raymond encounters. At the beginning of the novel, Raymond is not allowed to date Alice because he is Ojibway. As the novel moves on, Raymond becomes exposed as a shy, kind and loyal individual. Yet he is forbidden to be with the woman he loves, and is discriminated only because of his race. One example of this is on page 178, where Raymond tells Lizzy how he is mistreated, and about his incident with Constable Hart. “‘You reported this,’ she said. ‘Oh, yeah. Sure did. I walked into the police station and made my report and then they arrested Constable Earl Hart and had a big trial and he’s still in prison. Even as we speak. You don’t get it. There’re two kinds of laws, one for your people, one for mine.’” In this quotation, Raymond explains that nobody would believe his story about being stranded by Constable Hart, since he is a native. If a white person filed a report to the police, they would get a trial and possibly a conviction. Later in the novel, when Constable Hart gets into a fight with Nelson, Raymond’s brother, he falls on a knife and is severely wounded. Raymond was innocent, but the prejudice of others resulted in him being shot and killed at the end of the novel. Bergen does an excellent job in exposing prejudice against natives in Canada, and the daily struggles they face.

Another thing that worked well in this novel was the maternal irony present between Norma and Lizzy. Norma is the mother of Lizzy, Everett, William and Fish, but does not behave like one. At the Retreat, she is often seen spending time with Doctor Amos, and leaves Lizzy to look after the rest of the children. Lizzy especially spends a lot of time with Fish, who is only four years old. She feeds him, bathes him, reads to him, and even sleeps with him. Norma gave birth to him, but Lizzy acts like his true mother. In the following passage on page 97, Norma gives Lizzy her ironic reaction to Fish’s near-drowning. “‘It was awful, Mum. He wouldn’t breathe. And I did everything I’d been taught, the clearing of the pathway, the pumping of the chest, but it all seemed so hopeless. I didn’t think it would work.’ ‘William said he was dead. He came running up into the Hall and said that Fish had drowned. So, until the moment I got there, I believed that Fish was dead. Imagine that, Lizzy. Imagine how I must have felt.’ She sat up, shifting Fish away from her. ‘What were you doing, Lizzy? What was going on out there?’” In this excerpt, Norma scolds Lizzy for not keeping a close eye on Fish. She tells Lizzy that she felt terrible, and was incredibly worried, even though she rarely spends time with Fish. She is selfishly concerned with her own feelings. Lizzy is the one who always takes care of Fish, while Norma is pursuing Doctor Amos, but yet she is the first one to blame Lizzy when something goes wrong. This maternal irony shows up several other times throughout the novel, and adds to the growing separation Bergen establishes between family members.

One passage that appealed to me is found on page 26, where Raymond describes his search for food on the unknown island. “He killed the small bird in the early evening… He plucked the chickadee and then impaled it with a stick and roasted it over the fire. The smell of meat filled his head, but when he attempted to eat the bird, he discovered there was little substance. So he opened the bird up and sucked what he could from the carcass.” This passage appeals to me because it is a great example of how natives used as many parts of the hunted animal as they could. Raymond not only ate the meat on the bird, but also sucked out its guts. It may seem barbaric, but he made sure that the whole bird went to good use. Another animal that natives used entirely was the buffalo. They would use its hide for clothes, its meat for food, its hooves for glue, its bones for tools, and even its bladder for a water bag! Just like his ancestors, Raymond respected nature and animals by using the entire animal.

Another passage that appealed to me is found on pages 270-272, where Doctor Amos tries to impose his beliefs on Lizzy. “‘That boy is not for you, Lizzy. You are better than him… And this interests me. Perhaps you are more like your mother than you would wish to believe. Both of you are clearly beautiful, but inside there is something veiled and impenetrable.’ ‘I am not my mother…’ ‘Of course you are. And why wouldn’t you want to be? She is an attractive, smart woman.’ The Doctor smiled wistfully. He said that she was at an age where everything was black and white… Some day she would see things differently… Lizzy wondered if he was jealous. Of her and Raymond.” This excerpt appeals to me because it is an example of how Doctor Amos tries to manipulate the visitors at the Retreat for his own benefit. When the Byrds came to the Retreat, Doctor Amos started an affair with Norma, even though he was already married. As he manipulated Norma for his own benefit, he angered Lewis, her husband, which caused mistrust and separation within the family. After Norma left, he tried to seduce Lizzy by trying to convince her that she is too beautiful for Raymond. However, unlike her mother, Lizzy did not believe him, and walked away. Not only is this an example of native prejudice and how Lizzy is different from Norma, but also an example of how Doctor Amos tries to exploit individuals.

If I could write a letter to David Bergen, I would ask him three questions. The first one would be what influenced him to write about native prejudice. I would be interested in knowing what personal events he encountered that persuaded him to write this novel. Secondly, I would ask him why he chose to end the novel without describing what happened to the Byrd family. At the end of the novel, it is clear that the family is in ruins, and that Lizzy is devastated by the loss of Raymond, but it is not evident what happens to them after this event. Finally, I would ask the author if he would write another novel featuring Lizzy Byrd, with Doctor Amos playing a more villainous and antagonistic role. Even though the Doctor manipulated others and had selfish motives, I was intrigued by him because he did it so subtly and unscrupulously. I would like to see him have a larger, darker role in the next novel.

The Retreat by David Bergen is a tragic novel that describes the breakdown of a dysfunctional family, and the injustices that natives face in Canada. The book reads easily and flows very smoothly. The story also brings out empathy in the reader. Despite its tragic ending, and many depressing sections, The Retreat is a very well-written novel that can be enjoyed by audiences from sixteen years of age and up. I give this novel three and a half out of five stars.