As the Andes Disappeared by Caroline Dawson (trans. by Anita Anand)
Caroline Dawson’s book As the Andes Disappeared (translated from French to English by Anita Anand) is nostalgic and haunting, inspiring and edifying, and at times, indicting. A quick, if not easy read, I sat down and spent my whole Sunday immersed in Dawson’s life, starting at the tender age of seven, when she and her family flee Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile, through her youth and teen years as she manoeuvres life as a newcomer living in Montreal’s poverty stricken Hochelaga Maisonneauve neighbourhood, into adulthood as a successful educator and mother. Not a memoir, strictly-speaking, but marketed as an autobiographical novel, it’s difficult to suss out what is more or less fictionalized (though you can make a guess as you read through). Nevertheless, Dawson uses each scene to make the immigrant experience palpable.
What makes this book so evocative is Dawson’s ability to connect with the reader. Despite having never had a newcomer experience of my own, the author was able to make connections with experiences I have had—being concerned that Santa know where I am when away from home over Christmas, being thrust into a foreign environment where everything is new, coming up against colossal barriers, being worried about what other might think, trying to fit in, struggling to climb out of poverty. In these ways, Dawson drew me into her story, and I was transfixed.
What was most hard-hitting for me was the author’s relationship with her mother. I was struck, as I always am when confronted with stories of displacement, by the horror of having to leave your family—your parents, your siblings, those who are closest to you in this world—knowing that you will likely never see them again. In Dawson’s case, her mother was forced to make this decision before FaceTime, before Zoom; the severing must have been tremendously difficult. Dawson also highlights the disparity that often exists between immigrant and non-immigrant classes. She struggles to understand and reconcile her own resentment when confronted with how hard her mother works cleaning other people’s homes. And Dawson doesn’t mince words—she is detailed and intentional in her description of what her mother has to put up with. The humiliation and frustration are particularly pointed when Dawson’s teen life collides with the awareness that she is partying in a house her mother will clean the next day.
Dawson uses this incredible novel to examine the immigrant experience as well as her own identity. Having arrived in Montreal at such a young age, her memories of Chile are suspect. French supersedes her native Spanish, Canadian—specifically Quebecois—90’s culture outshines all Chilean references. She lives with one foot in both worlds, the divide growing exponentially as she matures. Yet, the newcomer experience never fully leaves her. It follows her into adulthood, colouring her own further ventures into new countries, languages, and traditions.
As the Andes Disappeared is a lament for what is lost through displacement, a rally-cry for the injustices that often follow, and prayer for what could be despite the barriers. I highly recommend this book! Well-worth the read.
As the Andes Disappeared By Caroline Dawson, translated by Anita Anand BookHug, 2023 pp. 208 ISBN: 078-1771668613