It's Never Over

by Morley Callaghan, Norman Snider (Introduction)

Completed in 1930 while the author was living in Paris—imbibing and boxing with James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway—this novel has violence at its core. The story opens with the hanging of an ex-World War I soldier for involuntary murder. First and foremost, though, it is a story of love—a love haunted by that hanging.

188 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1930

About the author

Edward Morley Callaghan was a Canadian novelist, short story writer, playwright, and TV and radio personality.

Reviews

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A glimpse back in time a hundred years to the life of young working people in Toronto. Back in the days of hangings at the Don Jail and dance pavilions at Scarborough Bluffs. Easy to read but lots to ponder.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Morley Callaghan's oft-overlooked It's Never Over offers a portal back in time to Toronto in the 1920s. Unlike Such Is My Beloved, which only alludes to being set in Toronto, this novel firmly situates itself in the city, with references to places and things you could walk past today. This makes the novel familiar to the modern reader and yet the daily lives of the characters are undoubtedly foreign (just think of those rent prices today - and the cost of eating out!). The novel is pretty slow paced but fraught with conflict, confusion, love, and loss. The way Callaghan structures his sentences is unlike any author I've ever read, and I don't recall his much later Such Is My Beloved reading like this one.