Book review: The Island of Mists and Miracles, Victoria Mas

The Island of Mists and Miracles is the story of an unusual occurrence on a small island off the coast of Brittany. An island that, in Victoria Mas’s book, is populated by an eclectic cast of characters and is somewhere I definitely want to visit after reading it.

The story of The Island of Mists and Miracles actually starts in Paris in 1830, when novice nun Sister Catherine Laboure sees a vision of the Virgin Mary. It then moves to the present day, though it was unclear exactly when. We meet another nun, Sister Anne, who is at the same mother house in Paris, waiting for her own miracle. A fellow sister tells her about a dream in which Sister Anne will witness an apparition in Brittany, so she volunteers for a post there.

Alongside learning about Sister Anne, we meet some of the residents of the Isle of Batz, off the coast of Roscoff. Hugo is the teenage son of a devout family. Julia, his younger sister, has asthma, hence their own move from Paris. Their father, Michel Bourdieu, appears very religious but clearly has contempt for Hugo for not living up to his older brother, who is in the army.

Then there is Issac. A strange, otherworldly teenager. A fragile young person with a tragic story of a mother who died and a father who retreated into himself. Instead, it’s Madden, the owner of the local cafe, who looks out for Issac.

I enjoyed this scene setting, meeting the island’s inhabitants and getting a sense of the place. Sand dunes, tall grasses, low clouds and drizzle. Frequent silence apart from the waves lapping. And the Bretons appear to consider themselves separate from other French people.

As the story develops, we see flashbacks of Sister Anne’s childhood abuse. Possibly why she feels she deserves to see the Virgin Mary. But it’s Issac who sees the vision. Transfixed on a promontory, all he says is “I see”. This kick-starts a fervour in the community that starts to spiral and brings out the worst in many people.

One member of my book club found it hard to connect to this. But having been brought up within an Irish Catholic family, it made sense to me. The very idea of a vision of Our Lady and the possibility of a miracle is more than enough to stir up a community.

I won’t give away too much more; suffice to say, it takes on an almost thriller-like tone where you’re unsure what will happen next on this misty island. And for me, the ending was quite unexpected. Saying that there is also a final part set 14 years later. Some of us wondered what the purpose of that was, but if you believe in miracles, then it may well offer clarity on what the vision on the Island of Mists and Miracles delivered.

The only note to add is that The Island of Mists and Miracles was written by Victoria Mas in French and translated by Frank Wynne. Something I didn’t realise until after I was reading it. So although one member of my book club thought it was obvious, I thought he did a good job!

As with many of the books I read, I borrowed The Island of Mists and Miracles from my local library. But it’s also available from bookshops, including the charity Oxfam, which is Europe’s biggest retailer of second-hand books. For more book reviews, visit the Books section of my blog.