Alligator - Lisa Moore

To say that Alligator is a character piece rather than a plot-driven novel is probably an understatement  The novel is divided into a number of brief chapters, each of them focussing individually one of seven or eight characters. To tie the characters lives together however, there are obviously a number of minor interweaving plots, one of them involving a Russian gangster that is horrifying enough to keep you reading to see how things turn out - but the real motivating force in the novel is the development and expansion of the characters lives. Without getting overly psychoanalytical, it nevertheless manages to draw out subtle events from the characters lives that have had a profound effect on their outlook and behaviour – often involving the loss of a significant person in their lives, through divorce or bereavement.

This kind of detail is applied equally to everyone. There is Frank the hot-dog seller, who is being intimidated by Valentin, a Russian gangster. Also reluctantly mixed up in an insurance fraud scheme with him is Isobel, a young actress who is making a film with Madeline, a Newfoundland film director working on a movie she believes is going to be her final testament. Madeline’s young niece Colleen is a rebellious environmental activist, who has her own demons to exorcise – an overwhelming impulse that drives here to seek out a man she has seen on a video tape, a man who has survived being pulled from the jaws of an alligator.

Lisa Moore’s writing is such that the reader can equally identify with all the characters, understand where they are coming from and what motivates them. It is all the more shocking then what happens to those people when they run up against each together and the conflict between their different expectations, drives and aspirations expands the story to chaos theory proportions. Character driven then Alligator might be, but the it’s the drives of the characters are the plot - and the effect of their weaving together and bouncing off each other will constant surprise the reader.