Lauchlin of the Bad Heart

by D.R. MacDonald

There was a time when Lauchlin MacLean was a promising welterweight boxer, a time when his heart was strong and fit, a time when he might have had a future. But instead, he stayed in his tightly knit Cape Breton community, in an island of safety where family roots run deep. Now in his 50s, Lauchlin finds his heart tested again by a beautiful blind woman, the wife of a friend—and by a dark plot for revenge born of blood spilled in the forests that surround the village. ��� The award-winning, bestselling author of Cape Breton Road brings us a spellbinding story of family loyalties and sexual betrayals. In Lauchlin of the Bad Heart, D. R. MacDonald combines expert pacing and sharply drawn characters with a haunting, brooding portrait of the Cape Breton

Genres: Canada

360 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

D. R. MacDonald is a Canadian-American writer who publishes novels and short stories.

Born in Boularderie, Nova Scotia and raised in Ohio, he is a professor emeritus of creative writing at Stanford University. He still spends summers at the family homestead in Cape Breton Island, which he purchased in 1971, and his fiction is set in Cape Breton.

His novel Lauchlin of the Bad Heart was a longlisted nominee for the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2007.

Reviews

[Margaret Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This unnerving, lyrical tale of suspense --about an aging ex-boxer in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, forced to quit the ring when he developed a heart condition --lilts with the slow,repetitive rhythms of Islanders' speech, and delves deep into Scottish Gaelic ancestral folklore as well as that of the Mi'kmaq - the first nations' tribe that once lived in the thick mountainous forest of the area. MacDonald, a master storyteller, ascribes metaphorical power to the forest that resonates like a deep tremor of unpredictability in the emotional life of the protagonist, Lauclin, the raw, primal beauty of the Cape Breton coast and the depths of the human heart. A gripping read!

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather brutal story evolving around a man who can't quite get out of his own way. The main character is simply too interested in himself to be anything other than selfish.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would probably give this book 3.5 stars. It is the story of an ex-amateur boxer. Lauchlin, who now makes his living working in the family store. He is a bit of a ladies man and falls for the blind wife of a friend of his. A murder mystery takes up the last part of the book while most of the book involves Lauchlin's interactions with his fellow Cape Bretoners. The book did tend to drag in places otherwise it would have been a four star.

[Gail Walraven · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was virtually no äction" until 2/3 of the way through the book. I found the many boxing conversations to be very tedious reading. Guess if you are a boxing fan you would find them more interesting. Did like the setting and the character development.