Tell It to the Water: Five Siblings Tell of Their Father's Grief and His Struggle Back to Hope

by Donna Morrissey

INSTANT #1 BESTSELLER From the acclaimed and bestselling author Donna Morrissey, a memoir of love, grief, and the meaning of family that sings with her inimitable style and the voices of her unforgettable Newfoundland parents and siblings. A voice-driven, compact, and powerful memoir of siblings dealing with the loss of their mother while trying to save their stubborn, loving, but infuriating father from the self-destruction of his own grief. Each of Donna's four surviving siblings speak in their unique voices, arguing, laughing, singing. Their never-far-from-mind deceased brother Ford is present in the background, as is their mother, but their father "'Nerk" is the complicated centre around which they all turn. A man who represents a way of life nearly gone even from the far-flung outposts of Newfoundland, Enerchius Osmond is never fully himself unless he is tramping the land with a gun--you always shoots to kill, you never let anything suffer, is his constant lesson--or mucking about in his remote, hand-built cabin, or on the water skirting seals, pan-ice, and looming swells. The siblings bring him to Halifax after his wife dies, but staring at an asphalt driveway instead of the sea nearly kills him, and so they take him home. Which nearly does them all in as well. A distillation of love and grief, of guilt and celebration, shot through with Donna's--and her whole family's--unquenchable humour and resourcefulness, this memoir is for anyone who knows just how infuriating family can be, and just how great a gift.

Genres: Memoir, Grief, Audiobook

216 pages, Hardcover

Published August 11, 2026

About the author

Donna Morrissey has written six nationally bestselling novels. She has received awards in Canada, the U.S., and England. Her novel Sylvanus Now was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and she was nominated for a Gemini for best writing for the film Clothesline Patch. Her fiction has been translated into several different languages. Born and raised in Newfoundland, she now lives in Halifax.
She recently wrote a children’s book, Cross Katie Kross, illustrated by her daughter, Bridget. Morrissey grew up in The Beaches, a small fishing outport in Newfoundland & Labrador and now lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Reviews

[Di · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been a fan of Donna Morrissey since she wrote her first book, Kit's Law. She mostly writes about Newfoundland (my favourite place on earth) and Newfoundlanders. This is the second non-fiction book of hers that I have read.

This book is told through the eyes of Ms Morrissey and her siblings - the last seven years of their father's life. It is his journey of sorrow and grief after he lost his wife, the mother of their children.

The writing is raw, gut-wrenching at times, and laugh-out-loud funny at other times. The father is gruff, demanding and annoying but underneath that, he loves his family. He is a man of the land he comes from. He always wants to be part of that land. Each of the siblings shares memories and emotions, good and bad. An honest tribute to their father.

Parts of the book might be difficult to read, not because of the content but because it is written the way Newfoundlanders speak. They speak their own English, which varies regionally throughout the island.

At the end of the book, Ms Morrissey writes about how sharing and speaking of our memories (and the emotions attached) contribute to who we are. That struck a chord with me.

Excellent read!!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

[Margi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A touching, raw, funny look into a quintessential Newfoundland family.

[Ramona Jennex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knows that when Donna Morrissey sets her fingers over her keyboard and her thoughts pour out, she will create an moving testament to family, loss, love and grief. And I was correct.
A powerful memoir!
Read this book.
Donna has narrated the audio version. Such a privilege to hear her voice!

[Linda Mombourquette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Donna’s writing is so visual that you feel you are sitting across from her at a kitchen table holding a mug of tea. This book, based on the life of her father, holds memories of love, frustration, and anxiety (to name a few). It brought me back to my time spent with my dad after my mom’s passing. Such a beautiful read.

[Melissa Collver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a fan of Donna Morrissey’s writing. I enjoyed that she included stories told by her siblings, in their own words. While the subject matter is difficult, the family copes in various ways including a lot of humour. A glimpse of life on Newfoundland which is so profoundly different in many ways from other parts of Canada.

[Enid Wray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved loved loved this book - which, by the way, is brilliantly narrated by the author herself.

Wow! What a journey. What a story.

It’s like sitting in on the post-funeral kitchen party.

You know that one - where the siblings and others all sit around and tell the rest of the stories that they didn’t share at the grand event itself. The reminiscing - the reckoning - the coming to terms with - the coming to grips with. The recalibration of how they came to be where they are today - and the beginnings of figuring out who they are going forward in the absent of not one but both parents. The grief and the guilt.

And it is so “Newfoundland” - a testament to the strength and determination of a people - and what it has cost families and communities to remain Newfoundlanders… the price that families have paid.
Read this… listen to this!

And did I say that it’s less than 6 hours long - just right, like Goldilocks porridge!

[Amy · Rating 3.25 out of 5]

A story about the messiness of family and impact of grief. The ordinary moments and routines that display a family dynamic and the crazy, outlandish moments that form a lasting lore long after you are gone.

Ebook bookclub

[Linda Lefler · Rating 4 out of 5]

When TELL IT TO THE WATER opens, the Newfoundlander Osmond siblings have already buried a brother and their beloved mother. Now their father, a maladjusted senior who has been a bad alcoholic since the death of his son, is dying. This memoir is a recounting of seminal experiences of each sibling with their father, and of how they express grief now. Every sibling has a distinct past with Dad, but all circle his hospital bed trying to help him and process the thought of a world without him. It’s hard to give him what he wants. Diaspora is a theme, as the late brother died in an industrial accident in Alberta, and their mother also came to Halifax for medical care when she had cancer. Dad wants to go “home” to his rural village in Newfoundland, but cannot go alone, needs big-city medical care and supervision by family members.
The sublime writing uses a lot of Newfoundland dialect which did not hamper the clear meaning. It’s very voicey in the tones of each sibling who take turns telling their past and present Dad stories. The way of life when they were growing up, the life Dad desperately wants to go back to, is endangered now as outports send their offspring to larger centres. Hunting and trapping, girls were girls and men were men and driving drunk all over the place. For me, a lot of the elemental episodes described are better left in the past, but I don’t know if that’s how the siblings feel. The tragedy of the lost brother is always close to the surface.
You’ll recognize some of your own feelings in this memoir. Morrissey thinks her siblings have her pigeonholed as the brainiac with poor housekeeping skills. Same, sister, same.

This book was beautifully crafted and no word was wasted, a result of Morrissey’s gifts but also likely judicious editing. Just long enough to tell a story of one unique family and their life at home and away.

I am looking forward to seeing Donna Morrissey read from this book at the Cavendish Literary Festival next month.

I read this book early via netgalley. Many thanks to the author and publisher @penguinrandomca for this advance copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

[JessQueen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tell It To The Water by Donna Morrissey
Five Siblings Tell of Their Father’s Grief and His Struggle Back to Hope
———————————————————————————

Thanks to the ALC program by @librofm I had the opportunity to listen to this breathtaking story and share their journey. A true gem from an amazing writer and storyteller.

Blurb:
A voice-driven, compact, and powerful memoir of siblings dealing with the loss of their mother while trying to save their stubborn, loving, but infuriating father from the self-destruction of his own grief.

Each of Donna’s four surviving siblings speak in their unique voices, arguing, laughing, singing. Their never-far-from-mind deceased brother Ford is present in the background, as is their mother, but their father “’Nerk” is the complicated centre around which they all turn.

The siblings bring him to Halifax after his wife dies, but staring at an asphalt driveway instead of the sea nearly kills him, and so they take him home. Which nearly does them all in as well.

A distillation of love and grief, of guilt and celebration, shot through with Donna’s—and her whole family’s—unquenchable humour and resourcefulness, this memoir is for anyone who knows just how infuriating family can be, and just how great a gift.

My thoughts 💭

A tough memoir to go through. One needs to be prepared and listen to Donna tell her story with an open heart and an open mind.

We all know family is complicated and grief drives us crazy sometimes, most of the times I dare to say.
However, Morrissey gave here every one of them a voice a unique voice to tell their stories and that is what made this book an absolute gem.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 @donnamorrissey @librofm

QOTD: Have you ever gone through a tough situation at home where you’re required to take care of a loved one? Are you familiar with invisible diseases?

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Tell it to the Water” is Morrissey’s second memoir. It focuses on the family’s struggle to save their father – Enerchius “Nerk” Osmond – from his all-consuming grief after the death of his wife and their beloved mother. It includes chapters contributed by her four surviving siblings and begins as Nerk suffers a serious heart attack.

Nerk is deeply rooted in a disappearing way of life in a remote Newfoundland outport. After his heart attack, which he wishes he did not survive, the siblings try to keep him with them in Halifax. But they are forced to concede that he cannot abide to live anywhere but in his home in the outport living off the land and the ocean. The memoir concludes as Nerk finally emerges from his grief and begins to embrace life again.

“Tell it to the Water” is a poignant portrayal of love, grief, guilt and redemption told in Morrissey’s distinctive east coast voice and the voices of her four siblings. Nestled in the middle of the book are several pages of colour photographs of Nerk and family members.

[Lucy Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is likely nothing more profound or intimate than watching a beloved family member die. In Donna Morrissey’s memoir Tell It to the Water, this truth is exposed as Morrissey charts her family’s experience with grief and pain in recounting the deaths of a much loved brother, mother and father. The narrative is shared among the five surviving children, as each provides their own version of the seminal moments experienced in a family reeling with loss. Morrissey’s own voice soars with poetic lyricism endeavouring to shape the story of her father’s final years. And while this memoir pays loving tribute to grief in a closely knit family, it is also a paean to Newfoundland itself, and the demise of a way of life on the land and ocean that is so much a part of them. Both immersive and strangely cathartic, this is a masterwork of love and loss.

[Mike Broderick · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is quite apt to say, this is like a post funeral kitchen party. It brings back memories for me of heading east when my mom passed away many years ago and then heading back when my dad passed last year.

I have four siblings and getting together, sharing drink, stories and memories was what came into my mind when reading this book

I really like the different perspectives and I really enjoyed the narration on this one.

I do not think I have to say, something like this will resonate with a high percentage of readers.

I am a fan of this one, but with a bit of caution......I will be interested in seeing how this one ages for me. I could see me upgrading this one as I get a little further in the reading year.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful, funny and painful memoir.
“We are storytellers: you, me, all of us. How can we not be? We’re born into the story of our creation. We’re fed the stories of our family, of our people, of our culture. And with our own first syllables, we begin growing into our personal story and telling it to others – the thing just now happening, the thing that happened a minute ago, a day ago, a year ago. And through the telling, we bring understanding to our behaviors; we come to recognize the emotions accompanying them. Unlike fiction, memoir never ends.”

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This memoir by Donna Morrissey was a great read about a family wrestling with tragedy and death as their father sinks after the death of their mother and son.
The children each tell stories they remember from their childhood as they work through their feelings and come to terms with the loss and impending dismiss of their father.
I have friends in Newfoundland and could actually hear them through the words of the children in Morrissey's narrative.
A moving and masterfully told tale!

[Rhona · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would read anything this woman wrote (and have). This was sublime. I laughed, I bawled, I did a lot of nodding. Highly recommend!

[Cheryl Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, deeply honest and emotion provoking. Hated it to end i so much wanted MORE

[Terry Higgins · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for me.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

grief loves chuckles

Newfoundlanders always find the funny side of grief. So wonderful to see a family pulling together. I recommend this story

[Colette Connors · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't stop reading this great memoir. The magic of Newfoundland and Newfoundland English!

[Kristy · Rating 2.5 out of 5]

My second Morrissey book, who is obviously a great writer. This one didn’t resonate with me like Pluck did.

[Gena · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had lots of good reviews and I tried to enjoy it but just couldn’t get into it.

[Esther Schmit · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

A beautiful story of family and loss. Morrissey writing is so poetic and emotional while remaining entirely realistic and believable.

[Charles · Rating 1 out of 5]

I quit P.36. I didn't like the stream of consciousness writing-too vague, too chopped up.

[Trudy Jaskela · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

I love stories about Newfoundland.