Review: "Virgil Wander" by Leif Enger

Leif Enger was a writer who I discovered just as I was beginning to take reading very seriously, and read his two novels, Peace Like a River and So Brave, Young and Handsome within a year of each other if I recall correctly. But that was years ago, and I have matured greatly since reading both of them, so when it was announced that his first novel in ten years was coming out, I was excited but skeptical as to if it would deliver years after the magic of his first two books casts their spell over me. Thankfully, I was wrong to be skeptical and Enger’s new novel, Virgil Wander, is a total joy from beginning to end, featuring a weightless small town narrative, an indelible cast of locals and just enough intrigue in what is a relatively uneventful book to keep even the most jaded reader turning the pages. It begins with its central character, the eponymous movie theater owner crashing his car into Lake Superior. Somehow, he survives, but with a few neural faculties, such as memories and almost all adjectives, having sunk to the bottom of the lake along with his only vehicle. This lone act is a catalyst for the rest of the story and sets up Virgil as the central character in the many stories that take place in the town of Greenstone, Minnesota, the kind of town where Virgil not only owns the movie theater but also acts as the city clerk. The first of which, and arguably the most important comes in the form of Rune, an elderly man transplanted from Norway in search of his long lost son Alec Sandstrom, a minor league baseball sensation and town legend who rode off in a buddy’s plane and disappeared. Along with this newfound friendship, Virgil rekindles an “old torch” and begins to pursue Nadine, the former wife of the vanished Alec and offers Bjorn, Alec’s son a job at the Empress, the movie theater Virgil owns and operates. It is really amazing that Enger is able to pack so much into a clean and crisp 300-page book without the story feeling like it is about to burst at the seams. Along with this thread, Enger introduces Galen Shea, the son of the town drunk whose obsession with the sturgeon that he thinks drowned his father gives this quant story an aura of the fantastic that doesn’t feel shoehorned or unearned. On the flipside is the character of Adam Leer, who is Greenstone’s other famous resident, a filmmaker who has returned who always brings with him the spectral of doom, with many of Greenstone’s most mysterious deaths involving his presence. The novels’ more outlandish aspects never take away from the emotional impact of the story, such as one show-stopping scene where Virgil sees what may or may not be the grim reaper adding another layer to this story about mortality. This is not the kind of novel to offer neat answers or solve mysteries and some of the characters, even the saddest ones do not get a happy ending, but it is a near perfect example of great storytelling, from it’s unexpected climax to its downright beautiful final pages. 

Rating: 5/5