Seeking Connection
Review of the Invisible Publishing Kindle eBook edition, released simultaneously with the Invisible Publishing paperback (September 5, 2023).

Trumpets were used in war, bugles too. I remembered the clarion, the highest register, a piercing call, nothing above it. A single high note. And the clarion call - bringing all together into one, a uniting, a mass belonging, all of us the same.
...
It was cold outside and the green metal of the dumpsters had been decaying for years; behind it a small lot with rough looking cars, lined by a chain-link fence on its slow way down. The backs of restaurants are some of the realest places on earth - just a door or two from your beautiful meal.
...
"Do you know where the saying 'clarion call' comes from?" he asked.
"Yes, it's a trumpet, right?"
"Yeah - the idea of a call that would bring people together, from afar. Unite them in something, a purpose. I don't feel as if we have that anymore."
...
As I left, I heard a soft sound from my phone on the coffee table. I closed the door and pulled the bolt through the lock. I liked leaving my phone sometimes - unnerving at first, but fleeting, then a kind of clean emptiness.
...
If you want to think about how well you know someone, answer that question them - what do they want? and if you have an interesting answer, one that is true, you probably know that person very well.

The Clarion is an existentialist angst novel about siblings, Peter and Anastasia (called Stasi). Peter is single, a kitchen worker and sometime musician (on trumpet) and Anastasia is married with one daughter, having an affair, and works in a clothing fashion company where she has been turned down for a VP position which her entire career had been leading her to. The novel toggles between two timelines. Peter goes to a music audition on Monday and waits to hear the result by the end of the week. Stasi hears about her lost promotion one month and goes to therapy until deciding she doesn't need it a month later. The siblings cross timelines with phone calls and meetings at different points.

Neither Peter or Stasi are overly engaged in life. Peter seems to be drifting through it, not being very passionate about music and quite comfortable in restaurant work. Stasi, although very commanding in many ways, seems to shrug off the job loss and is not overly enthused about her family or her lover. There are issues in their upbringing which are the cause for their present day outlook.

Even though angsty existential novels are not really my thing, there are really wonderful descriptive and observational moments in this novel which made it quite a pleasure to read. Peter's story dominates as it is the opener and closer. Though we may not personally identify with the characters' situations, their seeking for connection and purpose is still universal. Although such a quiet novel may not seem to be a fire-breather, I was quite happy to discover it through its Giller Prize longlisting.

I read The Clarion through its being Longlisted for the 2023 Scotiabank Giller Prize. The shortlist will be announced on Wednesday October 11, 2023.

Soundtrack
The originals of the songs with which Peter auditions at the restaurant are:
1. Crimson and Clover (1968) by Tommy James and the Shondells.
2. I Got the Blues (1971) by The Rolling Stones.
3. White Christmas (1942) by Bing Crosby.

Other Reviews
Fully Alive, Alone by Sarah Marie, The Miramichi Reader, July 31, 2023.

The Clarion by Nina Dunic, CBC Books, August 23, 2023.

A Novel of Small, Graceful Moments of Epiphany by Robert J. Wiersema, Toronto Star, September 6, 2023.

Trivia and Links
Although The Clarion is her first novel, Nina Dunic’s website has links to several of her earlier published short stories, many of which can be read online. ( )