The Deer Wedding

by Penny Simpson

In 1941, artist Antun Fiskovic experiences a change in his fortunes following the dramatic revelation of the identity of his parents, just as occupying forces take over the government of his country. Fifty years later, a young woman, Dagmar Petric, tries to solve the mystery surrounding her father's death. Antun and Dagmar's stories come together in 1998, three years after civil war has torn apart the former Yugoslavia. This novel weaves public and private history through the catalyst of family secrets unearthed, the fallout of war, and the journey to personal and national reconciliation. "Simpson mirrors the histories of her characters with the rage and despair of their war-ravaged country... Her deft handling and authority creates a satisfying and compelling tale."--Publishers Weekly.

Genres: Historical Fiction

157 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 2011

Reviews

[Lynne]

This book sent me scurrying to Wikipedia to learn about the complicated history of Croatia as well as to study a map of the former Yugoslavia. It took a while to begin sorting out characters and understanding their often unclear relationships. Circumstances and revelations bring clarity as the book nears its end with a performance of The Tempest on the nighttime beach. I need to reread that play to understand its correspondence to the turbulent times that overwhelm the characters. The Croatian folktale of the snow deer wedding is powerful. There are always four deer at the wedding...One represents what has been, another the present. The remaining two speak of what is to be; they are witness to the marriage of the past and the present. I love the painting, referenced in the author's notes, by Ivan Generalic: https://www.wikiart.org/en/ivan-gener...

[Nancy]

After a slow start, I came to like this book. The Deer Wedding, which references a legend which inspired a painting, takes place in the early 1940's and late 1990's in Zagreb, Split and Hvar, Croatia. Both eras were times of strife and unrest. Dagmar is a young woman, born soon after her father died. Her mother left her to be raised by an aunt and uncle and older cousin. Almost simultaneously, Dagmar's mother wants to reconnect and tapes of her father, a journalist, interviewing the artist Antun Fiskovic surface. This leads Dagmar and her cousin, Zdenka to Split and Hvar where they find out about the connection between Dagmar's father and the artist, along with long hidden details of the artist's life. The themes of parental abandonment were present in the lives of several characters.

The text contained some errors, which is always annoying, but I attributed the mistakes to translation. However, Penny Simpson is apparently a British journalist.

"Stories told to him in the dialect of the islands, in cakavski. He claims he paints stories because he hardly knows anymore what language to tell them in." (62)

"...first history mocks us, then she destroys us." (97)

"There are always four deer at a wedding, and the reason is simple. One represents what has been, another the present. The remaining two speak of what is to be; they are witness to the marriage of the past and the present; they will speak for each of the wronged spirits, bringing their names back to life, letting them carry on the winds and into the mountains and out to the seas." (102)
[My comment: what a run-on sentence! I don't think I have ever seen two semi-colons in one sentence.]

"My family is like a huge fishing net. We seem to scoop up all sorts." (105)

[Jules A]

This was a strange book as the central premise is really interesting and I was really looking forward to reading it. But the characterisation is so cliched and the plot suffers from too many unrealistic coincidences - are there really only 10 people in Croatia and they are all intertwined somehow? It's a real shame as the concept was good but the lack of skill in the writing really let it down I felt.

[Ntamson]

Unfortunately the twists in the plot were too obvious a choice which made for bland reading, however I enjoyed the nods to Croatian cultural idiosyncrasies which helped me join the dots on my recent holiday in Croatia

[Bethan]

Couldn't put it down! Vivid characters that carried the story through the generations and a lovely mix of predictable character development and interesting central plot. Definitely recommend.