Essex County Story Structure

Jeff Lemire’s Essex County presents a very unique, interlocking story between its three segments.  As each story unravels, so does its characters. Each of the story’s main characters are all interrelated with each other. Their background help to create an entire story of the history of these characters and how they all arrived in Essex County.

In the Book One: Tales From the Farm, we are introduced to Lester Papineau, a quiet young boy with a very active imagination.  As the story progresses, we find out that Lester’s mother died while he was young and that he lives with his Uncle.  He later ends up meeting a now retired, but once up and coming hockey player named Jimmy Lebeuf.  Due to an injury sustained to the head, Jimmy was forced to quit hockey and ended up suffering minor mental problems from it. Later, without the consent of Lester’s Uncle, Jimmy starts to spend time with Lester.

Book Two: Ghost Stories, tells the history of two hockey playing brothers, Lou and Vince Lebeuf. Eventually, Vince ends up marrying a woman named Beth Morgan. Unbeknownst to Vince, there is a strong emotional and sexual tension between Beth and Lou.  This tension eventually culminates into Lou and Beth conceiving Vince and Beth’s daughter, Mary.  Mary and her husband have a child named Jimmy Lebeuf, Vince and Lou’s promising hockey athlete grandson.

In Book Three, the stories collide and lock into place as we discover the origin of the nurse named Anne Byrne. She is caring for Lou as he is elderly and in need of daily assistance.  Anne’s grandmother, Sister Margaret Byrne was a nun who cared for orphans with a priest named Charles Gerrard.  Against the vows of celibacy they had taken, they conceived an illegitimate child, Anne Byrne’s mother. Amongst the children that Sister Margaret cared for, was one Lawrence Lebeuf, the father of Vince and Lou. 

One day the orphanage burned down and Sister Margaret and the orphans were forced into the wintery wilderness to find a new home.  During the fire, Charles Gerrard died while rescuing one of the children, Lawrence Lebeuf. Sister Margaret and the children wandered the wilderness until they came to a town in Essex County.

Towards the end of Book Three, we also find out the real father of Lester Papineau. His mother, who had died years before, was married to Jimmy Lebeuf. Jimmy is Lester’s real father, but as Lester’s mother, Claire Papineau, saw it on her death bed, Lester’s Uncle Kenny was more suited to care for Lester than Jimmy. Jimmy left Claire during their marriage. Lester was never told that Jimmy was his real father until the end of the book when Kenny decides to reveal it to him.

I feel that Lemire decided to create such a complex and intricate story in order to build suspense throughout the book as well as keep the reader’s interest. He succeeded in making one big story out of three separate ones.  While I had somewhat questioned the real story underneath the three separate stories, it all became clear by the end of Book Three when all the story’s paths join together.  This book was extremely entertaining to read and the connection of the stories intensified the reading pleasure.