Bear by Julia Phillips

Bear by Julia Phillips

304 pages

Published by Random House Publishing Group - Hogarth

Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review

Publisher's Summary: 

They were sisters and they would last past the end of time.

Sam and Elena dream of another life. On the island off the coast of Washington where they were born and raised, they and their mother struggle to survive. Sam works on the ferry that delivers wealthy mainlanders to their vacation homes while Elena bartends at the local golf club, but even together they can’t earn enough to get by, stirring their frustration about the limits that shape their existence.
Then one night on the boat, Sam spots a bear swimming the dark waters of the channel. Where is it going? What does it want? When the bear turns up by their home, Sam, terrified, is more convinced than ever that it’s time to leave the island. But Elena responds differently to the massive beast. Enchanted by its presence, she throws into doubt the desire to escape and puts their long-held dream in danger.
A story about the bonds of sisterhood and the mysteries of the animals that live among us—and within us—Bear is a propulsive, mythical, richly imagined novel from one of the most acclaimed young writers in America.

My Thoughts: 
I can't recall where I first saw this book. I was not approached by the publisher, I don't recall reading any other reviews of it. I can only assume that I found it myself on Netgalley. I would have been drawn immediately to that beautiful cover and then, I assume, to a story about sisters. A look at other reviews will show you that responses to this book are all over the place, much as are my thoughts about the book. Here we have one of those books where I wonder if I just didn't "get" something, where I felt like I needed to spend some time with my thoughts before I decided how I felt about it. 
There's a lot to unpack here. There's an element of the fairytale here. In fact, the book opens with a line from the fairytale Snow White and Rose Red: 

“‘Poor bear,’ said the mother, ‘lie down by the fire, only take care that you do not burn your coat.’”

This line is equally appropriate: 

"The two children were so fond of one another that they always held each other by the hand when they went out together, and when Snow-white said: ‘We will not leave each other,’ Rose-red answered: ‘Never so long as we live,’ and their mother would add: ‘What one has she must share with the other.’"

 At least, it has long been Sam's impression that she and Elena would never be parted, that each of them was the only person the other could trust. It's an impression partly ingrained by the ways life has treated the sisters; but also because of what Elena told Sam years ago, when she told Sam that, when their mother died, the two of them would sell the land and home their grandmother bought and leave San Juan Island. Sam has lived for ten years with the promise that there is hope in her future, that the half million dollar selling price of the land will assure the sisters of a bright future, a chance to put the traumas of their past and a mountain of debt behind them. 

But the bear's arrival begins to expose buried feelings and secrets. Elena finally feels alive and, once again, in touch with the land that fed her soul and helped her survive over the years. In Sam, the bear's arrival raises fear to the surface, not just because of what the threat the bear physically poses but also a because it presents the threat of a rift between Sam and Elena. That fear, coupled with the distrust of authorities so deeply engrained in Sam, causes mounting conflict between the sisters. 

It's hard to find a character in this book that you can attach yourself to, but it's also easy to see how each of them became the person they are now. As the daughters of a woman who works in a nail salon, the wealthier children in town look down on them; as the survivors of an abuser brought into their home by their own mother and whom the system did not protect, they had only each other to turn to; as the caregivers to a dying mother, the sisters are forced to find jobs straight out of high school, jobs that might just pay the bills were it not for their mother's medical bills. 

As the oldest, Elena has always been the one to take charge and she has had to take on not only the care of their mother and a full-time job, but she has also become the person in charge of trying to keep things afloat. Sam moves through life in a bit of a haze, bidding her time for the day she can leave the island and refusing to make any connects with other people who might hurt her. In the end, it's Elena who hurts her; even so, Sam is willing to do whatever it takes to bring Elena back to her with tragic consequences. 

And there, you see, as I thought more about the book, it became clearer to me. Unlike those who either disliked the book or those who loved it, I find myself falling somewhere in between. The Pacific Northwest is vivid and it's hard to imagine wanting to leave it. Phillips has created a unique story, to be sure; it might even be one I'm thinking about long after this.  But I so often wanted to just shake both of the sisters, wanted them to be honest with each other, to stop making stupid mistakes; I struggled with believing that anyone could be so oblivious to the danger as Elena was; and I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about the ending.