Michael Crummey

In Newfoundland writer Michael Crummey's book The Innocents, two children, sister and brother, are orphaned at a remote cove on the shores of Labrador. The pair survive the winter and learn, slowly, with mistakes aplenty, to feed themselves, to trade with the vessel that comes down the coast twice annually. With the help of the odd visitor to their outpost they learn to hunt, which in the end is what saves them from the daily worry about food. Their years of privation end, while other troubles between them brew.

This is a well-written book, chock-a-block with Newfoundland English (luckily I could access the Dictionary of Newfoundland Usage online), descriptive, well-researched. The story, however, was a hard one for me to read. I cringed at the desperation of the two lonely children, winced at threats to their well-being, was horrified when incest jutted its ugly head into the story. There were vivid passages about gutting and skinning animals, and I simply don't have the stomach for reading that.

A good book, but not one I'd recommend, then, because of how it made me feel. I like fiction to leave me feeling either content or interested or wanting to find out more of the story; sadly this book gave me none of that. It did, however, give me the pleasure of reading fine passages by a gifted writer, and I will try Michael Crummey's works again, but something less bloody and off-putting.… (more)

A story of hardship, survival, and love set. Ada is about 5 and her brother, Evered about nine when their little sister and both parents die leaving them orphaned on the remote coast of Newfoundland. Used to hard work and harsh conditions, they manage to survive using the skills they have learned from their parents. Once a year, a ship comes by with supplies that are traded with the salted fish they have caught. They survive by helping each other in the only way they know how.

As they near their teenage years, emotions change. The author's portrayal of these times is so well done and done with such respect for his characters.

A wonderful story and memorable one. The ending is just right.… (more)

There are almost no admirable characters in the book which contains some of the vilest scenes imaginable; yet, it is a good read. Abe Strapp, is the spoiled son of a successful merchant who is about to marry a young girl who will bring more financial security, but the marriage is ruined by his competitor who we find is also his sister, Widow Caines.

Life is hard on his coastline. There is violence, sexual and otherwise. The character of Abe is cruel, unfeeling, as well as stupid and a poor businessman who is only held together by the Beadle (a kind of church/government leader who is the godfather of Abe). Widow Caines is only slightly more humane. A young boy, Solemn and his sister, Bride, work for her. Indentured servants arrive from England on their way to Australia who stay including a young boy branded as a thief, who becomes friends with Solemn and Bride. Strange story, not for everyone's taste, but well-written, believable in spite of the terrible things that are considered ordinary in this society. Times were hard, people were cruel!… (more)

Twenty years after the publication of his debut, Little New and Selected Poems brings together selections from Michael Crummey’s first four books of poetry with a significant offering of new work. In this collection, Crummey emerges not only as the master storyteller we know him to be, but also as one of our great poets of connection. Whether reporting from a solitary room or a shared bed, recalling the barbed delirium of adolescence, the subtler negotiations of mature love, or the generational echoes between fathers and sons, these poems are deeply engaged in the business of living with others. Of living with the absence of those who have shaped and sometimes scarred us. Unafraid of confronting the darker corners of desire or of digging into the past to make sense of the present, Crummey has already given us a tremendous body of work. Little Dogs showcases the evolution of one the most distinct and celebrated Canadian writers of his generation.… (more)