Barkskins review – a grisly tale of chopping down people and trees

Annie Proulx’s sprawling ecological saga is rich in incident but lacks the human touch

Novels about climate change usually take the form of science fiction – hence the in-vogue tag “cli-fi” – but Annie Proulx’s gigantic new book left me wondering if historical fiction might be the genre more pertinent to our ecologically jittery times. If Barkskins has a hypothesis, it’s this: assuming the damage is already done, the causes of whatever trouble lies ahead are as rich in drama as any of the apocalyptic consequences.

The story begins in the 17th century, in the part of New France that became modern Canada, where colonists – justifying their atrocities with high-handed Christian rhetoric – are unworried by the consequences of tampering with an environment that the local pagans hold in fearful respect. Two French labourers, René Sel and Charles Duquet, are chopping down trees for a settler who promises them land in return for three years’ unpaid service. While René does as he’s told – fathering several children with his master’s indigenous housekeeper in the process – Duquet scarpers, surviving a near-fatal trek to establish a logging dynasty.

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