Review: The Law of Dream
Peter Behrens’s debut novel won the Governor General’s Award
The novel describes the odyssey of a young Irish man who leaves his homeland and travels to Dublin, Limerick, and Liverpool before crossing the ocean to reach America.
The Law of Dreams
Peter Behrens's first novel tracks the life of Fergus O'Brien, a 15-year-old Irish boy who strives to survive during the Great Potato Famine of the 19th century in Ireland. O'Brien is the son of tenant farmers, who refused to obey the landlord's order to leave the property. After the murder of his parents, the teenager is sent to a workhouse. He eventually escapes the institution, join a group of bandits and get revenge on his former landlord by raiding his farm. O'Brien travels to Dublin, then to Liverpool where he will work as a "pearl boy", a prostitute. After becoming lover of a married woman, he embarks on a journey to America.
The Law of Dream is a sage that takes the reader through a period of human history: the Great Hunger in Ireland between the years 1845 and1849. Behren's 400 page-turner novel describes the famine and its consequences. The author explores the struggles of the Irish population through the life of the son of tenant farmers. The author draws the principal character with unobtrusive compassion. The well-written book is a pleasure to read: hilarious, inspiring and entirely human. The storyline is engaging from the first line to the last. A definite must-read for this summer.
About Peter Behrens
Montreal-born author Peter Behrens received the Governor General's Award for fiction for his first novel The Law of Dream.
Even though The Law of Dream is Behrens' first novel, is an experienced author. In addition to his work as a screenwriter, he has published numbers of short stories and essays in The Atlantic Monthly, Brick, Best Canadian Stories and other Canadian and American magazines.
In June 2007, Behren's short story, The Smell of Smoke, won the Canadian National Magazine Award.
He currently lives in Maine with his family.
The Governor General's Awards
Created in 1937, Governor General's Literary Awards is one of the most prestigious prizes in the Canadian publishing world.
There are seven categories both in French and in English, which include fiction, non-fiction, poetry, children's literature (text), children's literature (illustration), drama and translation.
The Canadian Council of the Art announce the finalists in each category one month before the announcement of the winner.
A total of 14 prizes are awarded.
Each winner receives a prize of $15,000. Moreover, their publishers receive $3,000 for the promotion of the book. The finalists in each category receive $1000 each.
The Governor General of Canada, Michaëlle Jean, hosts the award ceremony to honour the winners.
