Robert Bell’s first novel, Of Wine and Water, begins in 1916 and covers some 20 years in the life of Albra and Gabe, two soul mates who grow up in the industrial city of Hamilton in southern Ontario. Albra is the daughter of privilege while Gabe is the son of a steel mill worker, but neither is understood by their respective families. It is only at the end of the book that their paths cross.

Bell’s writing is strongest when describing concrete activities, such as when Albra paints, Gabe works in the vineyard, or Hamilton’s great blast furnaces belch fire. Also effective are portraits of a union organizer, a painter who sounds very much like a member of the Group of Seven, and a woman who is so traumatized by the painful death of a neighbour in childbirth that she forever banishes her husband from her bed.

The dialogue, however, is sparse and deals mostly with commonplaces. In the right hands, this literary strategy can be effective – think of Hemingway’s monosyllabic exchanges, which express far more than the words’ face value. Bell hasn’t mastered this technique, and often fails to find the right words to fit a description. For example, when Albra’s father proposes marriage to her mother, Bell writes: “…Calvin decided to embrace the mood by offering his hand to Hannah before she evacuated.”

Given its strong sense of character and place, Of Wine and Water could well prove popular in Hamilton, but readers not interested in that city may find the book a poorly written yawn.