Robin McGrath

This novel is a really lovely book. There are two stories related- one in 1820 on a small Newfoundland outpost and the other in the present as two historians try to track down any Jewish people by the name of Harris in early Newfoundland. The book begins with a phrase that Rosehannah Quint, a fourteen year old orphan sews into a seam -" My father has married me to a mad old man." With that beginning we learn about the history of Jacob Harris and how he ends up on the outpost of Ireland's Eye. Interspersed with the story are the present day letters between a retired historian from Newfoundland and an Israeli researcher living in London who both are looking for the same person. The story is about the everyday life and work of fisherman, traders and the women who live in remote settlements in 1820. Beautifully written.… (altro)

If you were on your deathbed and remembering the details of your life, what would come to mind first? What would be pushed to the deepest recesses of your mind, not to be faced yet, maybe postponed indefinitely?

In 1914, as 84-year-old Keziah Donovan lay dying after suffering a stroke, she reflects on her life growing up in Newfoundland. The early years of the eighteenth century were grueling for pioneers and settlers although Keziah's family was not as badly off as some. Her only offer of marriage came from cobbler, Paddy Alyward, who was somewhat of a scoundrel although she made the best of life with him. After his early death she sold up the cobbler's shop and bought a farm resolving to bring up her three daughters in fresh air. And, although her girls were not thrilled about leaving St. John's, she was delighted to get them away from the stench of the city. In her senior years she fell in love with Paddy Donovan whom she always referred to as Mr. Donovan because she thought it insulting to call "her own sweet man" by the same name as her first husband. When the first railroad was built in the area, her excellent cooking provided the inspiration to open a hotel to service passengers and officials.

Donovan's Station is an intelligent, well-written fictional biography, holding the reader's attention with a captivating story. It is an excellent description of life in Newfoundland in the early days. Robin McGrath describes the culture, traditions, and conditions of the times. Photographs add to the authenticity, inserted, as they would be in a biography, making the reader wonder if the photos inspired the story.… (altro)