St. John's: City of Fire

by Paul Butler

Fire tore through the heart of St. John’s, Newfoundland, three times in the nineteenth century. It left behind utter destitution and an urgent need to rebuild. Survivors were forced to look inward for the strength to start afresh. St. John’s: City of Fire is an historical account of these three fires. It weaves through eyewitness accounts of the conflagrations, depicting the panic and the infighting, as well as the devotion to St. John’s and the determination to see the city rise again.

169 pages, Paperback

First published August 22, 2007

About the author

Paul Butler is the author of novels The Widow's Fire (In press, Inanna, 2017), The Good Doctor (2014), Titanic Ashes (2012), 1892 (2008), NaGeira (Pennywell Books, 2006), which appeared on one of the judge's (Donna Morrissey) Canada Reads shortlists, Easton's Gold (Brazen Books, 2005), Easton (Flanker Press, 2004), Stoker's Shadow (Flanker Press, 2003), short-listed for the 2004 Newfoundland and Labrador Book Awards, and The Surrogate Spirit, Jesperson Publishing (2000). The novels Easton, Easton's Gold and Nageira explore the apsects of the pre-colonial history of the New World. Butler has written for The Globe and Mail, The Beaver, Books in Canada, Atlantic Books Today and Canadian Geographic. He has contributed to CBC Radio regional and national. A graduate of Norman Jewison's Canadian Film Centre and screenwriter of the Archelon Films and Ontario Arts Council short film production, Solstice, Butler is a four-times winner (2003, 2004, 2006, 2008) in the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters Awards.

Reviews

[Jerry Cranford · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It's no easy task to make a long ago emergency interesting to a modern reader, but Butler brings his novelist's skill to the newspaper reports, eyewitness accounts, and archival information, creating vivid images of the city and her inhabitants." -- Atlantic Books Today

"Paul Butler brings a level of detail possible only through in-depth historical research." -- Downhome