Moonlight Sketches

by Gerard Collins

Welcome to Darwin, Newfoundland, a small town with big secrets. On the surface, nothing ever changes and everyone is content. But the truth is as restless, cold, and mutable as the ocean in these sixteen linked short stories. In Darwin, people's secrets are hidden and their fears are buried. But night after night, the moon bears quiet witness to their brightest moments and darkest days.

A Catholic girl finds herself pregnant and feels hopelessly trapped. An elderly couple fears the end of their happy, quiet life when their money sock goes missing. Two lesbians walk into the wrong bar on a Saturday night. A young teacher must rescue a student from her wicked father. A wild youth seeks to rectify his life, but first takes his bookish friend on one last heist.

In "Moonlight Sketches," Gerard Collins portrays a land of shadows, beyond the overpass, where cruelty and hope gnaw at your peace of mind as the brine patiently devours a wharf. With his trademark dark humour and a nod to the unknown, the author shines a light on the difficulty of being human and yet somehow surviving with grace, dignity, and a modicum of happiness.

Winner of the Ches Crosbie Barrister Newfoundland Book Award for Fiction

200 pages, Paperback

First published March 22, 2011

Reviews

[Lee Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had to be a difficult book to write, one that could easily fall into the clichés of an Atlantic Canadian, moribund fishing community (and be much the worse for it). There's poverty, small mindedness, violence, despair and overall gloom, and Collins mines this territory without apologies. There are glimmers of hope, sure, but by and large, they’re glimmers only, for feel-good endings would have made the linked collection unbearable. So why is such darkness so much more bearable? Because it’s closer to the truth, I think, or at least closer to some fundamental human truth. Sure, Darwin evokes ideas of survival of the fittest, but the town is too isolated, too incestuous to survive for long, and the history of evolution is as much a history of extinction as one of advancement. These stories, however, linger after the you finish the book, leave fossil imprints, gothic and stark, and you do remember humour along with the cruelty, passion next to the violence, and a character or two who just may have a chance. Character is the author’s strength. Favourite stories in the collection were among the darkest: “Trust Fund,” “Tar-Cat,” “Chosey Bilch” and “The Darkness and Darcy Knight.”

[Jenna Decker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfectly woven story. I didn't want to put it down. Simply-put: a page-turner :)

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skilfully written short stories peopled by unforgettable characters. Read once; never forgotten.

[John Hanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good read. A few of the stories didn't fully work for me. Two Lesbians Walk into a Bar, Moonlight Sketches, and The Darkness and Darcy Knight were rushed and I couldn't fully buy into them. The Davey and Benny stories began to feel oppressive. How much artist vs. bully stories can one take? But Gerard switched it up at the right time and in the end, I began to feel for Benny. Chosey Bilch was just out there, and while I liked it, I curse Gerard forever for embedding that image in my head. *grin* Our Julia was the most sophisticated story with elevated writing and story. Hold Out obviously influenced Michael Crummey's Sweetland. Overall I'm left with an understanding and empathy of Newfoundland's loss of its small outport towns and culture that will stay with me.

[Laura Patterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had really hard time getting into this one. I'm not generally a fan of short stories but since reading The Hush Sisters which is written by the same author, I figured I'd give it a go. A few of the stories confused me to the point that I considered re-reading them thinking I must have missed something. Once I got about halfway through I came to enjoy the stories more especially when characters from other stories made an appearance. Even though it wasn't my favorite read, I think we'll see the author turn these shorts into something larger one day.

[I dream of the ocean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful book of short stories that tie together within the fictional town of Darwin, Newfoundland. The town name is ironic in the sense of the stories seem to cumalate to survival of the fittest.
Well done Gerard Collins

[Ashley]

DNF at 54%

[Darlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling read, as you can see I finished it in 3 days. I’ve always thought a perfect storyline would be about separate characters whose lives intersect somehow: whether through relationships, history or just living in the same town that meets its fate in the end. Real people living real lives, all complete stories on their own, but made more dimensional by these intersections. The author manages to convey the stories dramatically, enticing the reader to continue, but without drama if that makes sense. Highly recommend.