Review
THE CASE OF LENA S.
By David Bergen
McClelland and Stewart, 286 pp.
This is a story of a young man’s coming of age, but for the longest time the reader (me, anyway) doesn’t know which era he is growing up in. Mason Crowe is 16. He’s a well-spoken, sensitive poet. He reads books. He does mostly what he is told and is having difficulty in his love life. But because the author doesn’t use a lot of "likes," "whatevers" or "blings," it takes a few pop culture references before it becomes apparent that our story is set at the end of the 20th century.
Mason’s family is falling apart and he has fallen in love. At first he is attracted to an unattainable girl who is betrothed to an older man, but who is willing to go out with Mason’s brother. Later Mason discovers sex and young love with an available but troubled, self-absorbed young woman. To raise a little money he reads to a voyeuristic blind man.
In spite of the book jacket trying to stir things up with sentences like "Mason’s duplicitous, competitive brother, Danny, a chef, has his own agenda." (Dah dah dah daaah!), The Case of Lena S. is a small story that is told cleanly and impeccably. Bergen’s language flows and his descriptions are tantalizing. His characters see and appreciate the world he’s created around them, whether it is Winnipeg in the summer or a sad psych ward.
Bergen uses an excellent device to reveal information: the fictitious footnote. He uses it to tell the reader about characters and moments that none of the other characters know about. It gives his reader the inside edge as to who these people really are – which is helpful since the main characters are teenagers and aren’t likely to think of adults as sentient, sexual, world-wise beings.
Bergen takes his main character through eye-widening sexual experimentation and heartbreaking betrayals. Mason is allowed to grow up and get hurt and not just be a conduit for the story. In fact, every character, no matter how little dialogue they are afforded, is complex and, if not likable, understandable.
It is a treat to read such warm writing that goes to such depths, even in a well-worn path such as a boy’s coming of age in a prairie town.
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