No Great Mischief

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1999

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Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1 Summary

The story begins in southwestern Ontario, during the September fruit picking season. Alexander MacDonald, known as “Alex,” is driving to Toronto to meet his brother, Calum. As he drives into the city, he sees political demonstrators from both sides and parks his car in an alley. As he searches for his brother, he describes the poor conditions of the local housing, mostly populated by lonely men such as his brother.

When Alex arrives at his brother’s apartment, Calum is drunk. They speak in a mixture of English and Gaelic. There is no food visible in the apartment, but Alex sees an empty wine bottle and offers to take his brother for something to eat. Calum refuses. Alex fetches a bottle of brandy from his car, but when he tries to pour his brother a drink, Calum’s shaking hands spill it on the floor. When Calum finally drinks from a plastic children’s bowl, his shaking stops, and they reminisce about old acquaintances and their family.

As Calum quickly becomes drunk, he accuses Alex of only visiting because of his familial obligations. Although Alex denies this, the idea riles his brother. But just as Calum’s balls his fists, he begins to laugh. Alex leaves to buy more alcohol, and as he stands in the hallway, he hears Calum sing alone. As Alex exits the building, he picks up the song himself and begins to sing. He thinks about his grandmother’s belief that their family will live a “long, long time […] if we are given the chance—and if we want to” (15).

Chapter 2 Summary

Alex remembers how he got his nickname—gille beag ruadh, “the little red boy” or “the little red-haired boy”—at school with his twin sister. He failed to respond to his own name, as he was so familiar with the nickname.

His grandfather, Calum Ruadh, came to Canada from Scotland in 1779, bringing a large family with him. The name Calum Ruadh has filtered down across the years, now familiar to Alex and his family. Alex recounts the story of his ancestors crossing to the New World from Scotland, swapping one war for another. The voyage was difficult on the cramped and overcrowded ship: Calum Ruadh’s wife died, and his eldest daughter gave birth. When the family arrived in the New World, Calum Ruadh fell to his knees, “crying for his history” (28).

Alex remembers his grandfather telling him the story, just as it had been told to him. The family settled in Cape Breton, a British province in Canada. Calum Ruadh lived to be 110 years old, spending 55 years in Scotland and 55 years in Canada. He was buried alone.

Chapter 3 Summary

In the years after Calum Ruadh’s death, his many descendants moved around the new country of Canada. The families were so large that Alex remembers the genealogies becoming incredibly complex. Clann Chalum Ruaidh was known across the state, and the family members became known for their physical characteristics: a predisposition toward twins, fair skin, bright red or shining black hair, and dark brown eyes.

Alex himself shares many of these traits and remembers his nephew being handed a fifty-dollar bill by a passing car, a gift from clann Chalum Ruaidh. They recognized him from his appearance alone, and the incident brought his sister to tears of joy.

Chapters 1-3 Analysis

The opening chapter of the novel introduces us to the framing device. As Alex makes his way to visit Calum, he wanders through the destitute sections of the modern city. It speaks of the squalor and the filth that his brother now lives in. It is not Alex’s world, and it is a far cry from the comfortable life he has at home. But, more importantly, it is a long way from the life the MacDonald family used to live. The meeting with Calum forces Alex to reckon with his past, and even as he goes about menial tasks (such as going to a store to buy alcohol), he finds himself unable to escape his past. Although the narrative remains in the present tense and in the moment when Alex visits his brother, a large portion of the novel takes place in the past. The past shapes and molds the characters, and as Alex moves through the current world, the narrative illustrates the ways in which the past has shaped him.

The second chapter introduces clann Chalum Ruaidh, beginning with Calum Ruadh himself. Throughout the novel, the importance of family and the close genetic ties that begin with Calum Ruadh will form an essential part of the narrative. Hair color, language, a predilection for twins, and many other features are inherent to the family. Alex begins by telling the story of how his family came to be in Canada, while the remainder of the narrative will bring him all the way up to the present day, standing in Calum’s apartment.