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The Blue Tattoo
From award-winning author Steven Laffoley comes a compelling tale of love and loss, despair and hope, based on real people and real events. It brings to life one of the most extraordinary stories of our time – The Halifax Explosion.
It’s 1917. The Great War has given rise to unprecedented prosperity to staid, Victorian Halifax. It has also given rise to an explosive desire for change. A medical student and daughter of a prominent Halifax family, Elizabeth Beckett dreams of bringing equality to women in an age when men alone control the world. She fights for equality and to give women a voice in the politics of war. At the same time, sugar refinery worker Danny Cohen dreams of leaving Halifax and a deadly war machine that he sees as only serving the wealthy. He fights to make the money he needs so he can escape. When their lives collide, their dreams and their views of the world are challenged by the promise of love. Yet their differing beliefs prove too much and they are torn apart. Elizabeth returns to her suffrage movement while Danny escapes to Boston for a better life.
However, when two ships collide in Halifax Harbour on December 6, 1917, and the greatest explosion the world had ever known is unleashed on the city, their eyes are opened to new truths. Elizabeth is swept up in the chaos that follows the explosion and works courageously at a local hospital, overrun with the horribly injured. She finds dwindling medical supplies and worsening conditions, only to face a once-in-a-generation snowstorm that promises to take away whatever hope remains. Without fresh medical supplies, hundreds will soon die.
Meanwhile, desperate to return home, Danny hears of a medical relief train is leaving Boston. In charge is a man with a dark past who promises to race to Halifax in record time. Danny manages to get on the train, only to face a snowstorm that stops it in its tracks. Without action and personal sacrifice, the train may never arrive.
Filled with a cast of unforgettable characters – from Boston mayor James Michael Curley to Group of Seven painter Arthur Lismer – The Blue Tattoo tells the sweeping story of the lives caught up in the unbelievable devastation of the Halifax Explosion.
It’s 1917. The Great War has given rise to unprecedented prosperity to staid, Victorian Halifax. It has also given rise to an explosive desire for change. A medical student and daughter of a prominent Halifax family, Elizabeth Beckett dreams of bringing equality to women in an age when men alone control the world. She fights for equality and to give women a voice in the politics of war. At the same time, sugar refinery worker Danny Cohen dreams of leaving Halifax and a deadly war machine that he sees as only serving the wealthy. He fights to make the money he needs so he can escape. When their lives collide, their dreams and their views of the world are challenged by the promise of love. Yet their differing beliefs prove too much and they are torn apart. Elizabeth returns to her suffrage movement while Danny escapes to Boston for a better life.
However, when two ships collide in Halifax Harbour on December 6, 1917, and the greatest explosion the world had ever known is unleashed on the city, their eyes are opened to new truths. Elizabeth is swept up in the chaos that follows the explosion and works courageously at a local hospital, overrun with the horribly injured. She finds dwindling medical supplies and worsening conditions, only to face a once-in-a-generation snowstorm that promises to take away whatever hope remains. Without fresh medical supplies, hundreds will soon die.
Meanwhile, desperate to return home, Danny hears of a medical relief train is leaving Boston. In charge is a man with a dark past who promises to race to Halifax in record time. Danny manages to get on the train, only to face a snowstorm that stops it in its tracks. Without action and personal sacrifice, the train may never arrive.
Filled with a cast of unforgettable characters – from Boston mayor James Michael Curley to Group of Seven painter Arthur Lismer – The Blue Tattoo tells the sweeping story of the lives caught up in the unbelievable devastation of the Halifax Explosion.
192 pages, Paperback
First published August 19, 2014
1 person is currently reading
90 people want to read
About the author
Steven Laffoley
12 books13 followersSteven Laffoley is an award-winning, Halifax, Nova Scotia-based author.
He the author of numerous books of fiction and creative nonfiction:
What's the Point?
Dulse to Donairs
Shadowboxing (second edition)
Unfiltered
Mean Streets
Halifax Nocturne
A Halifax Christmas Carol
The Halifax Poor House Fire
The Blue Tattoo
Pulling No Punches
Shadowboxing
The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Death Ship of Halifax Harbour
Hunting Halifax
Mr. Bush, Angus and Me
His bestselling books have been shortlisted for Evelyn Richardson Nonfiction Award (twice), the Atlantic Independent Booksellers' Choice Award, and the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Nonfiction. His book Shadowboxing won the 2013 Evelyn Richardson Award for Nonfiction.
You can write him at stevenlaffoley@yahoo.ca
He the author of numerous books of fiction and creative nonfiction:
What's the Point?
Dulse to Donairs
Shadowboxing (second edition)
Unfiltered
Mean Streets
Halifax Nocturne
A Halifax Christmas Carol
The Halifax Poor House Fire
The Blue Tattoo
Pulling No Punches
Shadowboxing
The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Death Ship of Halifax Harbour
Hunting Halifax
Mr. Bush, Angus and Me
His bestselling books have been shortlisted for Evelyn Richardson Nonfiction Award (twice), the Atlantic Independent Booksellers' Choice Award, and the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Nonfiction. His book Shadowboxing won the 2013 Evelyn Richardson Award for Nonfiction.
You can write him at stevenlaffoley@yahoo.ca
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
March 9, 2021
This is an impeccably researched historical novel regarding the December 6 Halifax Explosion of 1917. It is based on real peoples' experiences and true events. This disaster is regarded as the largest man-made explosion up to that time. A munitions ship carrying volatile explosives for the battlefields of Europe collided with the Imo, a relief ship loaded with much-needed supplies for Belgium. The result was an incredible story of tragedy. Almost 2,000 people died, 9000 injured,25,000 left without homes or adequate shelter during the Maritime winter. More than 1 square mile of the city of Halifax was flattened. The force of the explosion carried the heavy Mount Blanc anchor 2.5 miles through the air. A sailor on another ship was transported by the blast 1 km away, waking up without his clothing.
Injuries resulted from the blast, flying debris, fires, and buildings collapsing on their occupants. Numerous people, including children on their way to school, were blinded by airborne glass shards or flying metal pieces or from looking directly at the blast. The title "The Blue Tattoo" refers to scars left when bloody cuts were mixed with carbon and oil. History refers to a black rain falling. For the survivors, conditions worsened on the following day when there was a snow blizzard.
Doctors and nurses arrived from all parts of the province to assist in the overcrowded hospitals, with more injured continuously arriving. One doctor was on duty removing eyes. Conditions became overwhelming when the hospitals ran out of adequate supplies. Within a short time, a train was dispatched from Boston full of medical supplies and personnel. It made good time until slowed by a raging snowstorm and snowbanks on the tracks. A crowd welcomed the train on its arrival. To this day, Nova Scotia sends a giant Xmas tree to Boston as a tribute for their help.
Running through this story of unbearable tragedy and suffering is the story of Elizabeth. She is an independent woman of the time from a well-to-do family. She is involved in womens' rights and equality in a man's world and gives women a voice in the politics of war. She is attending medical school and knows she must work harder than the male students to reach her goal of becoming a doctor. She is being courted by the son of the most prominent and wealthy Halifax family, Wallace, who is frankly a snob.
She finds herself falling in love with a factory worker, Danny, whose mother once did housework for her family. Danny's wages are low and he makes extra money fist fighting in bars. Wallace follows Danny and Elizabeth on their dates and persuades Danny that he is too low-class for Elizabeth and can never give her a good future. A despondent Danny leaves for Boston to start a new life. He soon learns about the Halifax Explosion and manages to get a place on the Boston medical train and is heading home. He worries about his mother whose home was in the most devastated part of the city and has never stopped loving Elizabeth.
This is a well-written story of immense suffering and death, grief, love, loss and despair, and society in the early 20th century. 4.5 Stars
Injuries resulted from the blast, flying debris, fires, and buildings collapsing on their occupants. Numerous people, including children on their way to school, were blinded by airborne glass shards or flying metal pieces or from looking directly at the blast. The title "The Blue Tattoo" refers to scars left when bloody cuts were mixed with carbon and oil. History refers to a black rain falling. For the survivors, conditions worsened on the following day when there was a snow blizzard.
Doctors and nurses arrived from all parts of the province to assist in the overcrowded hospitals, with more injured continuously arriving. One doctor was on duty removing eyes. Conditions became overwhelming when the hospitals ran out of adequate supplies. Within a short time, a train was dispatched from Boston full of medical supplies and personnel. It made good time until slowed by a raging snowstorm and snowbanks on the tracks. A crowd welcomed the train on its arrival. To this day, Nova Scotia sends a giant Xmas tree to Boston as a tribute for their help.
Running through this story of unbearable tragedy and suffering is the story of Elizabeth. She is an independent woman of the time from a well-to-do family. She is involved in womens' rights and equality in a man's world and gives women a voice in the politics of war. She is attending medical school and knows she must work harder than the male students to reach her goal of becoming a doctor. She is being courted by the son of the most prominent and wealthy Halifax family, Wallace, who is frankly a snob.
She finds herself falling in love with a factory worker, Danny, whose mother once did housework for her family. Danny's wages are low and he makes extra money fist fighting in bars. Wallace follows Danny and Elizabeth on their dates and persuades Danny that he is too low-class for Elizabeth and can never give her a good future. A despondent Danny leaves for Boston to start a new life. He soon learns about the Halifax Explosion and manages to get a place on the Boston medical train and is heading home. He worries about his mother whose home was in the most devastated part of the city and has never stopped loving Elizabeth.
This is a well-written story of immense suffering and death, grief, love, loss and despair, and society in the early 20th century. 4.5 Stars
July 10, 2016
I have mixed feelings. The author is clearly a historian, and his account of the explosion and the aftermath is well-portrayed, accurate and believable. I especially liked the inclusion of Arthur Lismer, a member of the Group of Seven, in the story - and mention of his painting "Sorrow", which was only rediscovered about 15 years ago. Other real people also appear. The author knows Halifax, knows the terrain, and portrays it well. However, the plotline is pretty stereotypical - boy from the wrong side of the tracks, girl from the upper class who is misunderstood by her upper class fiance. And the dialogue - holy smokes. Everyone speaks the same in the same manner & uses the same vocabulary - whether a badly educated, ten-year-old working class kid, the mayor of Boston or a doctor. Often what should be dialogue is simply a monologue or speech, designed to drive the plot along/tell the reader what is happening.
I could overlook the thin romantic plot because the story of the explosion and its aftermath is drama enough. But because of the dialogue, I couldn't give this a better rating. If you can grit your teeth and get past the dialogue it is a rewarding book for its portrayal of a terrible Canadian tragedy.
I could overlook the thin romantic plot because the story of the explosion and its aftermath is drama enough. But because of the dialogue, I couldn't give this a better rating. If you can grit your teeth and get past the dialogue it is a rewarding book for its portrayal of a terrible Canadian tragedy.
February 17, 2020
I loved this book from the moment I picked it up. It had quickly become one of my favourite books. I love the characters that filled its pages and loved learning something in the process. Beautifully written, I can’t wait to pick up another book from this author soon!
May 7, 2021
A very detailed description of fragments of lives during the few weeks around the Halifax Explosion. A well told story using a new relationship as a back drop that skillfully enabled the author to tell a few different angles of an already well known disaster.
April 27, 2021
Really found this book captivating. Sad because of all the devastation, but so well written. Very descriptive and because I'm familiar with the areas written about I could almost picture the scene in my head. Happy that it ended with love.😊
November 24, 2024
First half: 3 stars
Second half: 4.5 stars
I didn't expect too much from this book, but was pleasantly surprised by how the second half (after the explosion) hooked me in. The first 120 pages or so were slow, but they worked well in setting up the story for an emotional and faster paced final stretch. As a former Haligonian I might be a little biased, and perhaps it was easier to connect with the story because of that, but I still think it's a genuinely good book.
Second half: 4.5 stars
I didn't expect too much from this book, but was pleasantly surprised by how the second half (after the explosion) hooked me in. The first 120 pages or so were slow, but they worked well in setting up the story for an emotional and faster paced final stretch. As a former Haligonian I might be a little biased, and perhaps it was easier to connect with the story because of that, but I still think it's a genuinely good book.
September 24, 2017
I recently went on a cruise to New England and Canada. One of the ports of call was Halifax, Nova Scotia. There I went on an excursion to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. Time there was limited so I really only spent time at the Titanic exhibit. (Halifax is where they brought the bodies for identification and the museum had Titanic
artifacts that survived, as well as the stories of those who perished). The tour guide of the excursion also told us of the Halifax explosion of 1917. While I was in the Maritime Museum gift shop I saw this book and I had to buy it. I wanted to know more about it but have trouble reading non-fiction books. Since this was a novel I knew I would get through it without difficulty.
Laffoley describes the devastation very well. I saw a clear picture of the destruction, the wounded and the dead. I would get choked up and would have to take breaks because the images and heartache were a lot to read. But it was important to understand the scope of the explosion.
Laffoley was also good at showing the reader the before story of each ship, the SS Mont-Blanc and the SS Imo, without being technical and boring. We saw the point of views of the men on board both ships, their feelings, and seeing what lead to the two ships colliding.
I did easily lose track of some of the characters, or in this case historical people. Many appear briefly, and others continued their story as they were important to the recovery. I wish there had been a character list or that I had wrote down my own to keep track of them.
I would have loved a detailed author's note about his research, as well as what was fact and where he took artistic liberties.
I liked that the timeline of events was manly centered around the disaster. There was a small Act to show the reader the romance between Elizabeth and Danny. I liked Danny and Elizabeth as individuals but the romance was - eh. It was clichéd and rushed, but also not the main point of the story.
Putting that subplot aside it was still a good historical novel. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn about the Halifax Explosion.
3.5 out of 5 Ships.
Some quotes that stood out to me:
Page 124: Duggan glance over his shoulder and saw what he swore were the eyes of Satan, two lurid spurts of flame rising skyward, chasing a monstrous cloud that rose two hundred feet or more into the air. It was at that moment, beneath the unblinking green eyes of Satan, there came a thunderous howl.
Page 279: And though I feel an unfathomable exhaustion, I feel compelled to keep at it, as though to give up working would be to concede to the chaos so cruelly visited upon us.
artifacts that survived, as well as the stories of those who perished). The tour guide of the excursion also told us of the Halifax explosion of 1917. While I was in the Maritime Museum gift shop I saw this book and I had to buy it. I wanted to know more about it but have trouble reading non-fiction books. Since this was a novel I knew I would get through it without difficulty.
Laffoley describes the devastation very well. I saw a clear picture of the destruction, the wounded and the dead. I would get choked up and would have to take breaks because the images and heartache were a lot to read. But it was important to understand the scope of the explosion.
Laffoley was also good at showing the reader the before story of each ship, the SS Mont-Blanc and the SS Imo, without being technical and boring. We saw the point of views of the men on board both ships, their feelings, and seeing what lead to the two ships colliding.
I did easily lose track of some of the characters, or in this case historical people. Many appear briefly, and others continued their story as they were important to the recovery. I wish there had been a character list or that I had wrote down my own to keep track of them.
I would have loved a detailed author's note about his research, as well as what was fact and where he took artistic liberties.
I liked that the timeline of events was manly centered around the disaster. There was a small Act to show the reader the romance between Elizabeth and Danny. I liked Danny and Elizabeth as individuals but the romance was - eh. It was clichéd and rushed, but also not the main point of the story.
Putting that subplot aside it was still a good historical novel. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn about the Halifax Explosion.
3.5 out of 5 Ships.
Some quotes that stood out to me:
Page 124: Duggan glance over his shoulder and saw what he swore were the eyes of Satan, two lurid spurts of flame rising skyward, chasing a monstrous cloud that rose two hundred feet or more into the air. It was at that moment, beneath the unblinking green eyes of Satan, there came a thunderous howl.
Page 279: And though I feel an unfathomable exhaustion, I feel compelled to keep at it, as though to give up working would be to concede to the chaos so cruelly visited upon us.
September 16, 2017
Of the several novels about The Halifax Explosion that I've read, this is the most complete regarding the details of the Explosion and its immediate aftermath, including the explosion itself, the scope of devastation and injuries, rescue and recovery, and the trainload of medical personnel and supplies from Boston. The social milieu of Halifax in 1917 is also well expressed. These details are embedded in a love story about two people who actually existed. In addition, numerous and semi-famous characters have short or cameo appearances -- the most famous (I think) being Mayor Curley of Boston and Arthur Lismer of The Group of Seven (Canadian painters).
There are many characters with very short stories but I found they added to the details. It's an easy read and quite interesting if history intrigues you.
There are many characters with very short stories but I found they added to the details. It's an easy read and quite interesting if history intrigues you.
January 4, 2020
I really enjoyed this book ....
I might be biased as I live in Halifax, but his research was so well done. It made walking my dog very exciting, I live close to the school that was used as a morgue ... it made the city come alive in another way for me.
Of course I know lots of history about the explosion, but this book connected me in a way to more of the feeling than the fact. Following these characters gave me the opportunity to feel like I followed someone’s story, obviously I don’t get to talk to anyone who lived through it.
I recommend!
I might be biased as I live in Halifax, but his research was so well done. It made walking my dog very exciting, I live close to the school that was used as a morgue ... it made the city come alive in another way for me.
Of course I know lots of history about the explosion, but this book connected me in a way to more of the feeling than the fact. Following these characters gave me the opportunity to feel like I followed someone’s story, obviously I don’t get to talk to anyone who lived through it.
I recommend!
October 24, 2017
Fine detail about the immediate aftermath of the Halifax explosion. If only the author had stuck to that. For some reason he decided to throw in a romantic plot, perhaps to provide a narrative thread to tie things together. The writing feels stiff and the main characters have about as much flesh as cardboard cut-outs. My recommendation is to skip Act I completely, and go straight to the true heart of the book contained in Act II. Or just go back and re-read Barometer Rising.
February 8, 2020
I gave this book 3 stars because the subject matter was interesting. I learned more about the Halifax Explosion in December 1917. But I think I might have enjoyed the look more had it been completely non-fiction instead of having a fictional story embedded into the historical facts. Steven Laffoley is, primarily, a historian, not a fiction writer, and it shows in the storytelling.
August 2, 2022
I bought this book on my visit to Halifax, Nova Scotia. I wanted to find out more about the devastating explosion that killed more than 1,800 and injured more than 9,000. Although it was a novel with a story about Danny and Elizabeth…much of it read like non-fiction with many names from the time and just sad and horrible facts of loss and destruction.
May 4, 2025
The Blue Tattoo by Steven Laffoley, begins with a man recounting his memories of the Halifax Explosion. He remembers the “city blown half to hell by the biggest explosion anyone had ever seen.” He remembers the glass shards as large “as your hand and splinters as small as snowflakes.” He remembers the black rain that came down and “The blue tattoos (that) came from all that flying glass. The shards and splinters would cut deeply into the skin and let the black rain seep in. That rain would then mingle with the exposed blood and open flesh and mark the skin forever- making a permanent tattoo. A blue tattoo.” He also remembers the bodies, bloody arms, heads, tossed about the streets. And then he tells us a story, a good story, a story “about fighting for something that matters.”
Elizabeth Becket is a medical student studying to become a doctor and a fighter for women’s rights and equality, in particular the right to vote. She is from a well-to-do family and is being courted by Wallace Tompson, an elitist snob from another prominent family that had produced a prime minister.
Danny is from Richmond, works in the sugar refinery, and dreams of leaving Halifax. To make extra money to achieve this goal, he fights, hustling and conning his opponents out of their money in bets.
Elizabeth and Danny bump into each other and discover that they knew each other when they were kids, when Danny’s mother worked for the Becket family as a housekeeper. As they get to know each other once again, Danny soon forgets his dreams of leaving Halifax. But forces conspire against them, and Danny ends up on a ship to Boston.
Then the devastating events of December 6th, 1917, happen. Laffoley describes the actual events in great detail. Elizabeth ends up assisting Dr. Cox and a real oculist from New Glascow in surgery at Camp Hill Hospital, as his anesthesiologist, as he removes eyes damaged from flying glass. Danny finds out about the explosion and manages to get on a relief train heading from Boston to Halifax.
What follows is a captivating fictional story surrounded by actual true events, real people, and accurate details of a horrific incident in Nova Scotia’s history. A quote from a friend that I read the other day, this novel “puts the story in history.”
Elizabeth Becket is a medical student studying to become a doctor and a fighter for women’s rights and equality, in particular the right to vote. She is from a well-to-do family and is being courted by Wallace Tompson, an elitist snob from another prominent family that had produced a prime minister.
Danny is from Richmond, works in the sugar refinery, and dreams of leaving Halifax. To make extra money to achieve this goal, he fights, hustling and conning his opponents out of their money in bets.
Elizabeth and Danny bump into each other and discover that they knew each other when they were kids, when Danny’s mother worked for the Becket family as a housekeeper. As they get to know each other once again, Danny soon forgets his dreams of leaving Halifax. But forces conspire against them, and Danny ends up on a ship to Boston.
Then the devastating events of December 6th, 1917, happen. Laffoley describes the actual events in great detail. Elizabeth ends up assisting Dr. Cox and a real oculist from New Glascow in surgery at Camp Hill Hospital, as his anesthesiologist, as he removes eyes damaged from flying glass. Danny finds out about the explosion and manages to get on a relief train heading from Boston to Halifax.
What follows is a captivating fictional story surrounded by actual true events, real people, and accurate details of a horrific incident in Nova Scotia’s history. A quote from a friend that I read the other day, this novel “puts the story in history.”
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December 8, 2019Audiobook
May 15, 2020
The Blue Tattoo tells the stories of Danny Cohen and Elizabeth Beckett during the explosion that took place in my hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1917 🇨🇦. Until the atomic bomb, it was the largest man made explosion in history.
I really enjoyed this book overall and I learned a lot about my city. The story really takes you on a journey that covers the lead up to the explosion all the way to the aftermath. The author uses the love story of Danny and Elizabeth to bring you through the different areas and groups that were affected by the tragedy.
The descriptions of the horrors that followed the explosion are truly gripping. All of these sections were 5⭐️ to me - they were heartbreaking but the author kept them completely raw. I think it’s important not to sugar coat historic events so I love how this was handled.
One thing I didn’t enjoy as much about this book was the love story. I appreciated the need for it because without it, it would’ve been hard to cover the different areas that this book travelled but I just didn’t feel emotionally connected to the characters. I honestly think this book could’ve been 100 pages longer to flesh out the love story a little better. If it was longer though, I’m sure a bunch of people would complain that it didn’t focus enough on the explosion so I understand.
I am giving this book 3.5 ⭐️ overall! It is really an enjoyable read and I highly recommend it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
I really enjoyed this book overall and I learned a lot about my city. The story really takes you on a journey that covers the lead up to the explosion all the way to the aftermath. The author uses the love story of Danny and Elizabeth to bring you through the different areas and groups that were affected by the tragedy.
The descriptions of the horrors that followed the explosion are truly gripping. All of these sections were 5⭐️ to me - they were heartbreaking but the author kept them completely raw. I think it’s important not to sugar coat historic events so I love how this was handled.
One thing I didn’t enjoy as much about this book was the love story. I appreciated the need for it because without it, it would’ve been hard to cover the different areas that this book travelled but I just didn’t feel emotionally connected to the characters. I honestly think this book could’ve been 100 pages longer to flesh out the love story a little better. If it was longer though, I’m sure a bunch of people would complain that it didn’t focus enough on the explosion so I understand.
I am giving this book 3.5 ⭐️ overall! It is really an enjoyable read and I highly recommend it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
December 31, 2021
This fictional account of the horrific Halifax Explosion disaster helps bring the reality of the tragedy home.
September 13, 2023
I bought this book while on a cruise when we stopped and visited Halifax. Great historical fiction! What an unbelievable tragedy! Thank you to the author for the history lesson.
December 16, 2024
I actually cannot say enough good things about this book. You get just enough of a love storyline to really push you through the gruesome historical parts of this book. If you are at all interested in the event of the Halifax Explosion this is the book I’d recommend to tell it.
October 6, 2019
In 1917, two ships collided on Halifax Harbour. The Imo was a cargo ship, while the Mont Blanc carried munitions and TNT for the war. The impact killed approximately two thousand people and injured many more. The explosion could even be felt all the way in Eastern Passage. Houses in Halifax were flattened, and many citizens were blinded by the flying glass. In Nova Scotia, everyone in elementary school learned about the Halifax Explosion, including me. Back then, I was moved at the fact that something so tragic and saddening have occurred right here in my hometown.
Danny, who works at a sugar refinery in Richmond, meets his childhood friend Elizabeth, after several years. Elizabeth is a med student at Dalhousie and lives in the south end. I love how their dates took place at familiar places I often walk by in Halifax, so it was a lot of fun to read. I love reading historical fiction (and some romance) so I really enjoyed this book.
There were many times while reading about the deaths where I start to tear up. I was moved by Danny's bravery and Elizabeth's courage. After reading, I learned that altruism prevails, especially at times when people most need it.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Halifax Explosion. I'm glad I got the chance to read The Blue Tattoo. It's a pleasure to read (no wonder it got printed three times already) and if you have not got a chance to read from a local author before, or are simply curious, I encourage you to go pick this up at your bookstore. You will learn a lot about the history of the explosion and the city. I'm looking forward to reading your next novel, Mr. Laffoley!
Danny, who works at a sugar refinery in Richmond, meets his childhood friend Elizabeth, after several years. Elizabeth is a med student at Dalhousie and lives in the south end. I love how their dates took place at familiar places I often walk by in Halifax, so it was a lot of fun to read. I love reading historical fiction (and some romance) so I really enjoyed this book.
There were many times while reading about the deaths where I start to tear up. I was moved by Danny's bravery and Elizabeth's courage. After reading, I learned that altruism prevails, especially at times when people most need it.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Halifax Explosion. I'm glad I got the chance to read The Blue Tattoo. It's a pleasure to read (no wonder it got printed three times already) and if you have not got a chance to read from a local author before, or are simply curious, I encourage you to go pick this up at your bookstore. You will learn a lot about the history of the explosion and the city. I'm looking forward to reading your next novel, Mr. Laffoley!
February 18, 2016
The Halifax explosion is a compelling true to life disaster that occurred in my home town in December 1917. Steven Laffoley has clearly done his homework giving what appears to be a fairly accurate accounting of the catastrophe that changed the lives and city dramatically from that day forward. There is a lot of detail in that every other paragraph seems to mention a specific Halifax street or landmark almost to the point of repetition. It's nice to get a visual picture but it seemed excessive - almost every other page had someone walking on a Halifax street. It was educational and informative but seemed geared towards a younger audience. Little did I ever realize that the very building where I take dance classes was once used as a morgue during that time to house the many unclaimed bodies. Lots of interesting facts are unearthed such as the etchings that artist Arthur Lismer did at that time that I researched in the Internet. Working at Dalhousie, it was nice to read about Elizabeth Beckett being one of the first female medical students enrolled there and her journey to find equality for women. If I had one critism it might be that Danny and Elizabeth didn't seem real to me although I know they were real people from that time who fell in love and eventually married. Elizabeth in particular seemed cool and distant. Their love story fell short for me. However, his descriptions of the suffering endured by the people of that time was well done and moving for the most part.
December 21, 2014
Steven Laffoley's The Blue Tattoo is the first time this award-winning historian has turned to fiction. His focus is the Halifax Explosion.
With a number of books and films already out there on the Halifax Explosion Laffoley seeks to tell a familiar story in a fresh way. The arc of the novel rests on a love story between a woman and a man from widely separated social and economic classes. Their differing backgrounds allow the author to examine a wide range of topics, including the suffragette movement and how wars benefit or hurt people in different ways.
Surprisingly, at least to me, there are stretches in The Blue Tattoo where the couple's story is not front and centre. Instead, Laffoley offers other characters — some historical, some invented — whose stories convey the wider tale of how the devastation happened and how it killed, maimed, blinded and rendered homeless so many thousands.
At times, some incidents read more like straight history than immersive fiction, but they communicate the context of the sweeping story the book presents.
The Blue Tattoo ticks along at a brisk pace and keeps the reader's interest all the way. It’s a big story every Haligonian should read. It deepens one’s appreciation for the parts of the city touched by the devastation of December 6, 1917.
With a number of books and films already out there on the Halifax Explosion Laffoley seeks to tell a familiar story in a fresh way. The arc of the novel rests on a love story between a woman and a man from widely separated social and economic classes. Their differing backgrounds allow the author to examine a wide range of topics, including the suffragette movement and how wars benefit or hurt people in different ways.
Surprisingly, at least to me, there are stretches in The Blue Tattoo where the couple's story is not front and centre. Instead, Laffoley offers other characters — some historical, some invented — whose stories convey the wider tale of how the devastation happened and how it killed, maimed, blinded and rendered homeless so many thousands.
At times, some incidents read more like straight history than immersive fiction, but they communicate the context of the sweeping story the book presents.
The Blue Tattoo ticks along at a brisk pace and keeps the reader's interest all the way. It’s a big story every Haligonian should read. It deepens one’s appreciation for the parts of the city touched by the devastation of December 6, 1917.
April 14, 2016
I would recommend this book especially to anyone who doesn't know much or anything about the Halifax Explosion. He paints a good picture of the whole situation, and just how devastating it was. In doing so, he visits a wide cross section of the population, which is necessary of course, but it does make for a huge number of 'characters' who appear ever so briefly.
There is a subplot hung loosely on the backs of two young people, but the explosion itself is definitely the main character. All along I felt the book was written by a historian more than a novelist, which coloured my enjoyment somewhat, but it is a worthwhile read and certainly moves along easily.
Tonight our Book Club has the author as a guest and I have to miss the meeting. Disappointing!
November 28, 2015
If I hadn’t been reading it for book club, I would have abandoned it long before the end. As it was I skimmed a lot. Cardboard characters in an unbelievable romance as a covering for lifting the stories of real people from well-researched Halifax Explosion books such as Curse of the Narrows. The Arthur Lismer story is the only one I do not recall reading elsewhere.
August 25, 2015
Great book about the Halifax explosion! I really loved the story line, and learned a lot about the Halifax explosion that I didn't know before.
September 6, 2022
Based on the Halifax explosion. Can you imagine a bucket full of eyeballs?
September 26, 2023
A great way to personalize the tragedy of the Halifax explosion. Such a moving, emotional book.
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