Ed Kavanagh

Many of the characters we meet in Strays, Ed Kavanagh’s first collection of short fiction, have ventured a long way from home. Displaced by hardship or misfortune, or a desire to forge a better future, they have been deprived of familiar comforts and a safe haven. Immersed in the unknown, their choices are adapt or perish. The stories are populated by orphans, oddballs, migrant workers, and elderly folk who have outlived everyone they care about--in other words, people who are not show more typically able to control their own destiny. Not surprisingly the prevalent mood here is one of melancholy. Kavanagh is adept at evoking the effects of passing time and lost opportunity on the lives of his characters. The stories are filled with yearning, but nobody is looking for anything extravagant. Kavanagh’s people want more than they have, but they reside in a world where hard work doesn’t necessarily bring great reward and hopes are often dashed. The author’s unadorned prose, which frequently mimics a distinctive Newfoundland vernacular, is perfectly suited to these tales of quotidian struggle and sacrifice. If the message that we are all strays is laid on a bit thick, the author still succeeds in showing us how the human need to belong to something larger than ourselves is a driving force behind much of what we do. Shortlisted for the 2014 Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize. show less

Absolutely delightful find! For anyone with any familiarity with Newfoundland, it is bang on: hilarious, touching, shocking, with the most wonderful turns of phrase and descriptions.

Absolutely delightful find! For anyone with any familiarity with Newfoundland, it is bang on: hilarious, touching, shocking, with the most wonderful turns of phrase and descriptions.