On South Mountain : The Dark Secrets of the Goler Clan

Front Book Flap:
“The Annapolis Valley is one of the most beautiful places on the face of the earth. Apple blossoms, lush farms and lovely, secluded beaches have graced photographs and postcards without number. But there has been a dark evil within this idyllic land for more than two hundred years.

Overlooking the Valley is South Mountain, a long ridge of hills covered by dense forests which conceal tiny hamlets and isolated clusters of shacks set in small clearings. Lately, parts of the Mountain have become desirable places to live. But for most of the last two centuries it has been home to the “Clans” – thirty or so tight family groupings, living in their various Mountain enclaves. Many of them have survived the kind of poverty show more and deprivation associated only with the world's poorest nations.

… Then one day, a fourteen-year-old Mountain girl told authorities that her father had been “using her as a wife.” This revelation sparked a massive investigation which revealed a horrific tale of incest, sexual and physical abuse and psychological torture. Eventually, sixteen men and women, almost an entire generation of one Clan, faced more than one hundred and fifty criminal charges. At the same time, eleven children, also an entire generation of the same Clan, were taken from their homes.”
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Why I read this now: I wanted to read the true story of the Goler clan, which inspired Lauren B. Davis’ novel, Our Daily Bread.

On South Mountain is well-written, impeccably researched, and an exceptional non-fiction that is difficult to put down. Admittedly, I knew very little about Nova Scotia’s clans, and nothing about the Golers. The story, however, is not one for all hearts. For me, I will continue to ask how did we, as a society, and in the 1980s, allow such travesty to be visited on our children, and simply turn the other way. People knew – church officials, politicians, teachers, doctors, social workers – and they chose to do nothing.

“For those innocents on the periphery, it is a prison sentence without end.” (208) show less

An extremely chilling book about one of Canada's most bizarre families where incest and sexual assault were acceptable practice.