Saltwater Joys

Saltwater Joys is set in Ireland’s Eye, a ghost town located on the edge of Newfoundland and Labrador—one of hundreds of fishing outports forced to resettle during the province’s confederation with Canada. The grave consequences of resettlement for the people and culture of Newfoundland and Labrador are illuminated in this intimate tale of one family’s experience across two generations.

In the fall of 1965, John Lee, a young fisherman, makes a tragic decision that changes the course of his life, pushing him to a self-imposed exile and to the brink of insanity. Twenty years later, John must face the secrets of his past when a young woman ventures to the rocky shores of Newfoundland in search of her roots.

This work of literary fiction explores themes of love, suffering, survival and redemption through two parallel love stories—love for a woman and love for a province. The reader will come to know Newfoundland and Labrador and all it has to offer in its vast natural beauty, poetic language, close-knit communities, bountiful hospitality, ghost stories, folklore and colourful culture. Saltwater Joys is a mournful and haunting story that will surely captivate and call you home.