The Iguana

Tom Venetis is a professional journalist and editor in Toronto.

This admirably translated novel follows the adventures of two boys who
live on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The narrator’s
parents have recently suffered a bizarre snowmobile accident that left
his father dead and his mother in a coma. While at school, he befriends
Luc, who introduces him to a cave that serves as a secret home, artistic
retreat, and place of worship. The cave is covered with Luc’s
wonderful drawings of mythical sea creatures. On a makeshift altar sits
a stuffed lizard.

Luc’s hope is that their strange rituals might awaken the
narrator’s comatose mother. The real hope, unstated but subtly
conveyed, is that Luc might be able to communicate with the mother he
lost to suicide. At first, the rituals, like opening a grave, seem to
work as the narrator’s mother begins to slowly awaken. The problem is
that the boys become too wrapped up in the strange stories and rituals,
which ultimately lead to tragedy.

Thériault’s storytelling touch is deft, capturing the boys’ sense
of adventure and pain, even the kind of bravado language and emotional
expressions that young boys are prone to use. The dreams of Luc’s sea
creatures, too, are vividly brought to life. The author’s love of the
fantastic sometimes overwhelms the narrative and undermines its
credibility, but this is a minor flaw in a book that filmmaker Terry
Gilliam might want to make into a movie.