A Marker to Measure Drift: Alexander Maksik
One woman finds herself on an island in the Aegean Sea. She is alone. She has no money. No ID. No family or friends. These are the circumstances that give rise to Alexander Maksik's haunting new book, A Marker to Measure Drift. The novel's central character, Jacqueline, has fled Liberia, one step ahead of the tyranny of Liberia's President and...
One woman finds herself on an island in the Aegean Sea. She is alone. She has no money. No ID. No family or friends. These are the circumstances that give rise to Alexander Maksik's haunting new book, A Marker to Measure Drift.
The novel's central character, Jacqueline, has fled Liberia, one step ahead of the tyranny of Liberia's President and warlord, Charles Taylor - a man who would eventually be sentenced to 50 years in prison for atrocities committed in Sierra Leone in the 1990's.
As a result, her life is reduced to the absolute bare minimum - where to find shelter and how to find food. As she sorts out these basic needs, she is also dogged by dark memories that nudge her from the sidelines of her consciousness... memories of catastrophe that reveal themselves slowly to her.
Alexander Maksik spoke to Francine Pelletier in Toronto.