National Network for Equitable Library Service

The O'Briens follows the family from The Law of Dreams two generations later: Joe O'Brien is coming of age in a new century in remote Pontiac County, Quebec, with his brothers and sisters by his side. Their father has abandoned the family and died in the South African war; their frail mother has remarried the abusive and lecherous Mick Heaney. Joe and his siblings escape the poverty and violence of the Pontiac, but as Joe travels the continent, building an empire and a bright young family with his wife, Iseult, he is never quite able to leave his past behind.

In the stifling heat of summer in a northern Canadian mining town, Marie, a young teacher, is fascinated by her new friend Corrine, a waitress who is determined to squeeze every drop of experience and sensation from life. As summer ends, Marie marries an immigrant from Eastern Europe. She has chosen Ervant because she senses -- or hopes -- that despair will not defeat him as it has the men who spent their lives working for the mine. This is the first volume in the False Pretenses trilogy, which is continued in Affairs of Art and An Appropriate Place.

Set against the divergent landscape of British Columbia — from the splendours of nature to its immense dangers, from urban grease and grit to dry, desert towns — Clear Skies, No Wind, 100% Visibility examines human beings and their many frailties with breathtaking insight and accuracy. Théodora Armstrong peoples her stories with characters as richly various — and as compelling — as her settings. A soon-to-be father and haute cuisine chef mercilessly berates his staff while facing his lack of preparedness for parenthood.

First published by Anansi in 1969, Five Legs was a breakthrough for Canadian experimental fiction, selling 1,000 copies in its first week. At the time Scott Symons wrote that "Five Legs has more potent writing in it, page for page, than any other young Canadian novel that I can think of." Or indeed any young American novel — including Pynchon and Farina.

Every family has its secrets. In 1935, Hannah Parsons left her home in Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland, at the age of seventeen to work in service for Charles and Virginia Sinclair, a wealthy St. John’s family. While working for them, Hannah catches the eye of the patriarch of the household, and her life takes an unexpected turn. Now, sixty years later, Charles Sinclair has passed, and his last living will and testament is about to throw his family into turmoil. His children and grandchildren learn that no family is as perfect as it seems, and that some secrets refuse to stay buried forever.

In 1925, in a London restaurant, J. Bruce Ismay, former chairman of the White Star Line, has a quiet dinner with his daughter Evelyn. Through the extravagant foliage of the dining room, a young woman watches. Like Ismay, Miranda Grimsden was a passenger on board the ill-fated Titanic that terrible night in April 1912. Fuelled by simmering emotions, Ismay, Evelyn, and Miranda take a backwards journey through the thirteen intervening years to confront issues of cowardice, spite, and revenge, and to dare themselves to exorcise the spectre of the past.

The year is 1932. The place is Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, where most of the early transatlantic flights take off. Unfortunately, more of them end in tragedy than in success. Some crash on takeoff, some crash into the Atlantic Ocean, and some are simply never heard of again. In spite of the danger, twelve-year-old Ginny Ross longs to be one of these pioneers of flight. But the obstacles to her success are enormous. Who will take a twelve-year-old seriously? Where will she find money for flying lessons at the height of the Depression?

In 1959, the small town of Badger was the centre of a labour confrontation that forever changed the social and political landscape of Newfoundland. For two and a half months, loggers had been striking for better wages and working conditions. Led by the International Woodworkers of America (IWA), the strike reached its climax when national and provincial police forces stormed the town in an attempt to break the impasse. The Badger Riot tells the story of the deadly melee that followed.

Pigeon Inlet is the setting for Ted Russell's stories, written for radio between 1953 and 1961. Here you will meet not only Uncle Mose, but other characters whose names have become synonymous with traditional outport life: Grampa and Grandma Walcott, Skipper Joe, Aunt Sophy, Jethro Noddy, and—of course—King David. Told with a combination of humour and respect and in a manner that captures the essence of folk narrative, these stories stand as a monument to the dignity of the outport Newfoundlander.

I never imagined I would die this way. Young, surrounded by thousands, yet alone and far away from home. I thought I would be afraid, but I’m not. The pain in my chest has dulled to a mild ache. Maybe if I close my eyes I’ll see my home, see Mom one last time. She’ll be upset if I don’t say goodbye. Dad will understand the sacrifice I made for king and country. And little Joanie. She’ll miss me the most, I think. I open my eyes and my breath comes out as a shudder. Can I still be here among the dead and dying in this barren place? This no man’s land?