We Rise Again

Follow-up to national bestseller Stay the Blazes Home featuring inspiring photos and stories of Nova Scotians during the second and third waves of the COVID-19 pandemic

It’s been more than a year since COVID-19 arrived in Nova Scotia. In the spring of 2020, then-premier of Nova Scotia Stephen McNeil implored citizens to “stay the blazes home”—and they did. But the full-scale lockdown is now a thing of the past. As wide-scale testing and vaccines begin to have an impact, many people have returned, in limited ways, to their businesses, their pastimes, and even their social lives. And although we are still in the thick of the pandemic, Nova Scotians, by necessity and by nature, have continued to step up to help one another through the ongoing crisis.
Who are these heroes who, on a daily basis, have continued to risk their lives, their livelihoods, and their own well-being to help us get through this pandemic? How have Nova Scotia’s front-line workers, business owners, support workers, health-care workers—people from all walks of life—adapted to find ways not just to survive and help others survive, but to thrive through it all? In the follow-up to his national bestseller Stay the Blazes Home, award-winning photographer and author Len Wagg, now with co-author Angela Mombourquette, brings dozens of compelling stories and powerful images of hope and resilience to light, illuminating the many ways Nova Scotians continue to serve as beacons of hope for all Canadians.