Cary Fagan's novel The Animals is a realist novel with a primal premise
What if people kept wild animals in their homes? That's the intriguing premise of Cary Fagan's latest work.
The prolific Ontario author works in the genres of both adult and children's fiction. He has published more than 25 books for young readers including the popular Kaspar Snit novels, the two-volume Master Melville's Medicine, Boney and the picture book King Mouse, which was a 2019 finalist for the Governor General's Literary award for children's literature — illustration.
Fagan is also the author of eight previous novels, including A Bird's Eye, Valentine's Fall and The Student, which was a finalist for the Toronto Book Award and the 2019 Governor General's Literary Award for fiction.
His latest is The Animals, a fable-like narrative featuring the protagonist Dorn, who creates miniature scale models displayed in the local shops. The mild-mannered Dorn deals with an untrustworthy younger sibling and a distant father — all while trying to show his deeper feelings of love to Ravenna, the ungainly schoolteacher. Life takes a strange turn when the government-sponsored "Wild Home Project" is introduced and wild animals cohabit with the town residents.
The Animals explores the nature of relationships, faunal and human, and reminds us of the challenges of finding one's place in society.
Fagan spoke with CBC Books about writing The Animals.
Making sense of the world
"My writing is a combination of what I see around me and how I try to make sense of the world, which does seem to me rather absurd at times. I have a generally optimistic disposition. That comes out in my work, in spite of the world we live in.
"I'm certainly influenced by what I read. I'm a very avid reader, and I'm very happy to learn from my betters — whether they are Canadian or international writers.
I have a generally optimistic disposition. That comes out in my work, in spite of the world we live in.
"For The Animals, my influences were probably the Japanese novels and Scandinavian novels I've been reading recently. This novel is different from my usual adult work.
"I don't tell an agent or editor what my stories are about before I write them. I write my manuscripts and I polish them as much as I can. That allows me to have the freedom to really write what I want."
Story and meaning
"The idea of bringing wild animals into people's houses as a government project came to me rather organically.
"I know it's been described as being a fable — and I can see that for sure — but I didn't try to write a fable. I tried to write a fairly realistic novel in which various unlikely things happen. I also wasn't thinking metaphorically, as in, 'This is a great way to reflect on "people versus nature,"' or anything like that, at all.
"I was thinking about the story: What if there was such a government project?
I tried to write a fairly realistic novel in which various unlikely things happen.
"What if people brought wolves and bears and minx into their houses — what could possibly happen? I thought of it on the level of actuality. Anything involving the metaphorical, the symbolic or social commentary — I know that it is there. But it's about trying to tell a good story; one that will enchant the reader and myself at the same time.
"The writing in The Animals is not overt at all. I remember the character of Dorn came to me as him being this artisan working in this village. I myself have never lived in a small place. But I love reading novels that are set in rural settings or are set in small towns. So this is my imagined version of a small town.
"I let the themes work themselves out without thinking about them too much. They're not at the top of mind at all."
Reactive character
"Dorn is a very likable guy. He's very level-headed. He's not someone who lets emotions take over — but at the same time he's someone who's never allowed himself to live fully. He's always been overly restrained. He's in love with a woman named Ravenna and he's never been able to tell her how he feels.
He's not a biographical character, but I still recognize the impulses. I thought he would be a great, articulate and somewhat dispassionate observer of some of the absurdity around him.
"He's lived his own life but he has recognized it but it's very small. He is quite reactive, especially in the early parts of the book. Part of allowing Dorn to fulfil his destiny was to let him find the urgency and the courage and the necessity to act, even though that act might not do what he wanted to do, or might be surprising, and might have unexpected results.
"I found him natural to write about. He's not a biographical character, but I still recognize the impulses. I thought he would be a great, articulate and somewhat dispassionate observer of some of the absurdity around him. You know, in a way, he's the man. He's the most level-headed character, even though he has these other emotions bubbling within them."
My place in the world
"I think I'm always writing about how we figure out where we fit. That's the essential and basic question for all of us. Most people at times feel that they don't fit in.
"So trying to find that balance between feeling like you're part of a community and not losing your own identity is probably something that I think about a lot. And it's something that comes up in my work a lot.
"The story of bringing wolves and other animals into houses...is certainly a fanciful idea, but I still wanted to realistically try to explore how Dorn reacts to this idea that people are living with wild animals.
Trying to find that balance between feeling like you're part of a community and not losing your own identity is probably something that I think about a lot.
"When he discovers that his own brother has brought an animal into his fancy condo — his brother's attitude, and the kind of animal that he chooses, very much speaks to who he is in the world and who he imagines himself to be.
"All of these things reveal expression of character. And that's the purpose of story — to express character, just as the purpose of character is to act."
Cary Fagan's comments have been edited for length and clarity.
