Big Town: A Novel of Africville

by Stephens Gerard Malone

It’s summer, 1963, and Early and Toby dream of building an opera house in Africville, a black community struggling with poverty and illiteracy tethered to the north shore of Halifax, considered by many, a festering sore. But to simple-minded Early Okander, brightly painted houses sprinkled haphazardly across train tracks, it’s poetry. He and Toby enjoy idyllic days rafting on Bedford Basin, dreaming of blueberry pancakes, and scavenging for church doors in the nearby dump with Penny, the kid from up the hill who’s bobbed her hair and reinvented herself into Chub.

Both Early and Chub find refuge from abuse and intolerance around the kitchen table of Toby’s grandpa Aubrey—the interracial friendships much to the disapproval of Mrs. Aada Dupuis, Aubrey’s neighbour hell bent on making him husband number three. Safe and warm in this dilapidated house, the 1917 explosion and Aubrey’s war experiences are relived, along with the struggles of Toby’s parents and Aubrey’s long infatuation with Portia White, the Canadian opera star he believes will rescue the community. Only Mrs. Aada appreciates just how numbered their days in Africville are.

As Toby’s health fails and Early’s tormenting and reckless father evades the police, the city’s bulldozers begin levelling Africville house by house, its residents carted off in the back of garbage trucks. Aubrey steadfastly clings to hope until Chub discovers that her family is instrumental in the expulsion, and her rebellion leads to a simple act of kindness with tragic consequences.

Gone since 1970, Africville was a community of almost 400 people for over 150 years. To this day, its demise haunts Canada as one of the most notorious cases of government sanctioned racial discrimination.

Genres: Canada, Fiction

ebook

First published September 15, 2011

About the author

Endless Bay (Mercury Press) 1994
Miss Elva (Random House Canada) 2005
I Still Have a Suitcase in Berlin (Random House Canada) 2008
Big Town (Nimbus Publishing/Vagrant Press) 2011
The History of Rain (Nimbus Publishing/Vagrant Press) 2021
Jumbo (Nimbus Publishing/Vagrant Press) 2023
The Unnameable (Nimbus Publishing/Vagrant Press) April 28, 2026

Reviews

[George Ilsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is "a novel of Africville" and is centred on the lives of children who lived in and around a historic, predominantly Black waterfront neighbourhood in Halifax, N.S. I say "children" but at the heart of the novel is Early Okander, a white teenager who is several years older than his friends, and who is well-developed physically (and emotionally), but not mentally or intellectually.

The residents of Africville paid taxes, but did not receive city services — the streets were unpaved, there was no water or sewer. The condescending tone of the city planners is set in an introductory excerpt from a "Africville Relocation Report, 1971" which twice refers to the "community" — in quotes. Any neighbourhood that has survived for more than 100 years, where generations are born and died, where you go to church and school and where your neighbours know your name is a community. The stench of condescension calling it a "community" (in quotes) reeks worse than the city dump.

All that is backstory. The heart of this novel is a story about friends, and family, and the blurry lines between who friends and family really are in our lives. At times the novel veered into "young adult" territory, but there were also strong doses of profanity and abusive situations which steered the narrative into adult territory.

The result is a strong, readable, moving narrative that swept me along, even though I knew from the outset that the community of Africville was destined to be bulldozed into history.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

. . . Big Town is a quick read, but it’s beautifully dense. Malone evokes the time most wonderfully — I was struck by the offhand mention in the first chapter of Good Friday always being overcast, something I always heard my mother say when I was a kid. I’m sad to say that actually, Good Friday is sometimes sunny. And the Halifax explosion is alluded to several times with personal detail rather than the big picture. And Date Squares, for goodness sake! And the bullying Early endures brings back sad memories of witnessing those big boys throwing stones at the boy with Downs Syndrome beside Walford Road in Sudbury. Malone uses little details like what television show Chub watches or what now-gone street the boys walk up, details a youngster pays attention to, to make Africville and Halifax palpable. . . .

Read more of my thoughts on Big Town at: http://behindthehedge.wordpress.com/2...

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won Big Town in a GoodReads giveaway and I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Perhaps part of my interested was peaked because I lived in Halifax for a short period of time a couple years ago so I knew the area the story was taking place, and I knew streets and different landmarks that were mentioned.
In this story you know more about the characters than they seem to know about themselves and that's something that draws you in. You want to see if they figure it out, if they come to understand their troubles.
The main character Early is put through much more than he can understand and because of that the book even had me crying at one point.

I definitely enjoyed this read!

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book from Goodreads in a contest. It is an easy read, fast paced story from e point of view of three youths : Chub, Toby & Early. It is a story that leads up to the 1960's forced relocation of residents of Africville, Nova Scotia. I really enjoyed the story with its quick story line that just kept me wanting to read more, even at the end of the book. I enjoyed the author's writing style and will definitely looks for other novels he has written.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book second hand in Dartmouth and couldn't wait to read it; finally, a story that would capture the essence of Africville as a community. Finally, a story of Africville where I, a white reader, can become enveloped by the residents of the town so I can feel the same sense of community, the same traditions, the same fears as the city comes to take it all away.

This book is so well written, I am left with a deep sadness and shame. I am still the white man, I live in Halifax and I have done this to Africville, to Big Town.

You owe it to yourself to get a copy and read this book. Only warning, Early's experiences can be hard to read but it is juxtaposed against the traumatic experiences of his neighbors.

[Ryan Ghorayeb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Big Town was an enjoyable read and I found myself getting lost in this book around the half way point. The ending was particularly good and even though the majority of the book was quite heart-wrenching, many seemingly meaningless parts served as a reminder for me to enjoy the little things in life.

The setting of this book - Africville - was also a topic I was uneducated on prior to reading this. Learning about this town and the state of it such a short time ago was eye-opening.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5. Compelling and layered, narratively unsettling, and complicated by the author’s identity… a fascinating read

[Natalie Barkhouse-bishop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the style of the author, definitely had a contemporary Canadian feel to the writing. I picked it up because I live in the Halifax area. I was really interested in how this book would tackle a story about a very controversial history of Africville, which remains a sensitive topic to this day in the local community. It was an easy read and even though disturbing and dark at times, I loved every minute of it.

[Ashley-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting premise. I enjoyed the writing style and the POV. Definitely worth reading.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the sense of place. It was a little more focused on the individual issues rather than the relocation than I had expected.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

meh.