The Searcher by Tana French is more literary novel than standard mystery. It’s character driven, with one main protagonist and some very interesting cast members. The older man becomes father figure and savior to a younger person in desperate need is a common conceit. Western Ireland stands in for Western USA, and the characters have codes of honor to uphold. All these play out over many pages of sensitive descriptiveness, of the landscape, the characters, the animals and the culture. All these are influences on the story and on our perception of how things are, and how they are changing. We can see the old values in these tiny backwater towns are giving way, but the denizens have barely the tools to cope with the changes. Even the newcomer retired cop from big city USA has immense challenges as he gets caught up in them. We see all the characters realize things are different, but each deals with this in their own way, some fighting it, some ignoring it, some accepting it. The big change for the protagonist comes with the realization that his new utopia is just on the surface, and his tools must change as he becomes part of the culture wherever he goes.
As much pain as there is in the novel, there is always time for French to include descriptions of the good, well written descriptions that stand out but don’t interrupt the flow of the narrative. We understand the good will go on, no matter what, and it’s up to everyone to cope with the obstacles created by quiet systemic revolution. French also captures the subtleties of the culture, as to how rules are enforced both in the big city police departments and in the local town pubs. These scenes are stand-outs in the book.
The novel has made me think harder about making my work more character driven, as well as having entertained me for several days while reading it.
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