Tanya Tagaq’s novel Split Tooth drags readers onto the icy tundra, following the life of a young girl in a remote town in the far north of Turtle Island.
Tagaq portrays the Land as remorseless and unmannered. The novel is much the same – relentless, raw and uncensored, with nowhere for readers to hide. What makes the novel work are its most unique features – the setting, and the interplay between realism and fantasy.
In Split Tooth‘s narrative, the Land plays a key role. The characters are constantly aware of the landscape, and the story flows with the seasons. It feels as though the novel itself mimics the landscape it’s set in – the plot is cold, sharp and unyielding. Tagaq doesn’t shy away from harsh realities or crude scenes, approaching these with a matter-of-fact tone that forces readers to sit in their discomfort. The setting feels fitting for this blunt approach, and adds to the somber mood of the novel.
Tagaq also uses the landscape to make a stance on environmentalism. The natural world is treated as its own character in a way, with its own needs and wants. At every turn, readers are reminded that Nature has no morals, that the Land is unforgiving. But almost all of the main character’s happy moments involve the Land or Nature; the rest is overwhelmingly negative. The true horror in this story lies not in Nature but in humanity itself, with the devastating impact of human actions on the Earth explicitly acknowledged multiple times.
The setting isn’t the only thing that makes the novel stand out. The mythology and fantasy elements that are woven into the book add a lot of intrigue. Most of the novel consists of everyday slice-of-life scenes like school days but occasionally something otherworldly creeps into the narrative. At these times, Tagaq uses vivid imagery and shocking twists to instill a sense of unease in the reader. The mythical elements of the novel are some of the most unsettling but they drive the plot forward in a gripping and engaging way. During these more whimsical scenes, Tagaq also takes the opportunity to reflect on existential questions like morality, time, religion and death, which gives the novel extra depth.
In all, Split Tooth is a demonstration of Tanya Tagaq’s fearlessness with her art. It is heavy, unnerving and at times uncomfortable, but it can’t be accused of being uninteresting.