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. ( )