No Great Mischief - Alistair MacLeod

While visiting his alcoholic brother, a man starts to reminisce about his childhood as "gille beag ruadh", the "red haired boy" of a close-knit Cape Breton clan. His clear-sighted reflections on the past illuminate the shocking hardships and danger of isolated rural life as well as its consolations, while raising questions about the relationship between past and present, as he remembers his grandparents from the "quiet affluence" of his Ontario dental practice and home. Issues of loyalty and identity are also explored, as the family's responsibility for an unknown cousin precipitates a tragedy in the context of fierce rivalries between Gaelic and French speaking mine workers, while clan membership brings forth hospitality and kindness from strangers at several points in the narrative. The descriptions of companionable singing and music-making throughout the book were captivating.