A Possible Madness

by Frank MacDonald

Like many smallish and inelegant towns that dot the coastlines and crossroads of this country, Shean’s postwar, post-industrial economy is in desperate disrepair, and the lengths that some civic leaders will go to in order to do “what’s best” for a town like Shean sometimes requires a leap of faith that has unintended consequences.

When a global corporation plans a daring scheme to exploit the remaining coal from an improbable source – and thus to secure Shean’s economic future – politicians try to marginalize the few voices of dissent.

456 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[An Te Chu · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fast paced read. The romance side-plot started off well written and devolved into removing at least a half star from my rating.

[Mary Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

MacDonald captures small town CB and its larger than life characters: Ronald Macdonald and his campaign against a clown and an empire of the same name; Big Mrs. Sandy with her grimly accurate readings of both tea leaves and people, a woman who took herself hostage to try to save her home,;Mad Maddie and Don Alex and Donald the Bastard Macdonald - and all of these are the minor characters. The main characters, David Cameron and Rita Macdonald, though not so larger-than-life as the others, are well-drawn and believable in their crusade to save Shean. The government and corporate plot to bring a destructive industry to the community under the guise of job creation is, despite its science fiction-y technology, all too believable. One has only to think of pulp mills and steel mills and aquaculture and Westray - and the list goes on without ever leaving NS - to see how all too common it is for governments and companies to take short cuts that cut short people’s lives, destroy communities, and ruin the environment that might sustain future communities. The book has flaws - a rather episodic approach to plotting, and lengthy preaching that masquerades as dialogue - but it kept me turning pages into the wee small hours of three nights in a row. I only wish I had started it earlier so that I could have looked on the real Shean (Inverness) with more knowing eyes - and had something to add to the book talk in Margaree!

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Literary Fiction, Atlantic Canadian)

Frank MacDonald is one of Cape Breton’s most celebrated writers.

A Possible Madness is set in the fictional mining town of Shean in Cape Breton which has seen its fortunes fall as the coal has been used up. Now a global corporation plans to build a seawall offshore and exploit the remaining coal. It’ll mean jobs but will the town agree to let it happen?

Read this if: you’d like to gain insight into the economics and everyday life of residents of a closed mining town, or you like literary fiction with a surprise twist.

4 stars

[Bonny Macisaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

In A Possible Madness, Macdonald explores the discord that erupts in the fictional east-coast town of Shean when a multi-national corporation devises a plan to exploit the last of the coal, at high cost to the community and ecology. There are hundreds of rural towns and villages facing the same challenges, so it will be easy to relate to for many who pick up this book. Is the cost to high? Worthy of it's nomination for the prestigious IMPAC International Dublin Literary Award.

[Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Full of flavour, cleverly constructed and crammed with colourful characters. I didn't want it to end. A very deserving nominee longlisted for the 2013 Dublin Impac literary award. Hope this book wins!

[Ken Kingston · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book I could not put down. Great storytelling! Excellent development of the main characters in this novel. An interesting dilemma, an industry comes knocking with a proposal to set up shop, which could turn the local economy around. Should you simply say yes, or do you probe deeper?

[haya · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting but slow moving for the first half and a confusing lot of characters, most having names beginning with 'd'

[Verna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had gotten this book a couple of years ago and it got lost in my "to read" pile. This was the best book I read all summer...absolutely loved it.

[Jack Beaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank Macdonald is a great story teller!