The Wake: The Deadly Legacy of a Newfoundland Tsunami

by Linden MacIntyre

NATIONAL BESTSELLER “Fascinating, infuriating, eloquent and cautionary.” — Postmedia A Globe and Mail , CBC Books and Maclean’s Book of the Year In the vein of Erik Larson’s Isaac’s Storm and Dead Wake comes an incredible true story of destruction and survival in Newfoundland by one of Canada’s best-known writers On November 18, 1929, a tsunami struck Newfoundland’s Burin Peninsula. Giant waves up to three storeys high hit the coast at a hundred kilometres per hour, flooding dozens of communities and washing entire houses out to sea. The most destructive earthquake-related event in Newfoundland’s history, the disaster killed twenty-eight people and left hundreds more homeless or destitute. It took days for the outside world to find out about the death and damage caused by the tsunami, which forever changed the lives of the inhabitants of the fishing outports along the Burin Peninsula. Scotiabank Giller Prize–winning writer Linden MacIntyre was born near St. Lawrence, Newfoundland, one of the villages virtually destroyed by the tsunami. By the time of his birth, the cod-fishing industry lay in ruins and the village had become a mining town. MacIntyre’s father, lured from Cape Breton to Newfoundland by a steady salary, worked in St. Lawrence in an underground mine that was later found to be radioactive. Hundreds of miners would die; hundreds more would struggle through shortened lives profoundly compromised by lung diseases ranging from silicosis and bronchitis to cancer. As MacIntyre says, though the tsunami killed twenty-eight people in 1929, it would claim hundreds if not thousands more in the decades to follow. And by the time the village returned to its roots and set up as a cod fishery once again, the stocks in the Grand Banks had plummeted and St. Lawrence found itself once again on the brink of disaster. Written in MacIntyre’s trademark style, The Wake is a major new work by one of this country’s top writers.  

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Canada, Book Club, Historical, Biography, Audiobook

384 pages, Hardcover

First published August 27, 2019

About the author

Linden MacIntyre is the co-host of the fifth estate and the winner of nine Gemini Awards for broadcast journalism. His most recent book, a boyhood memoir called Causeway: A Passage from Innocence won both the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction and the Evelyn Richardson Prize for Non-Fiction.

Reviews

[Debbie W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why I chose to read this book:
1. the title, cover, and GR friend, Kathleen's review, all enticed me to add it to my WTR list;
2. while on a recent vacation in Newfoundland, I purchased my copy from a gift shop; and,
3. July 2024 is my self-declared "O' Canada" Month (focus: Newfoundland).

Praises:
1. I learned a lot about the history of Canada's newest province, especially from 1929 to the present day, with a focus around the south coast near Burin Peninsula, where a powerful earthquake followed by a massive tsunami devastated the lives of the local people, including the fishing industry, which led to the installation of fluorspar mining, and the corruption, greed, exploitation, denials, illnesses, and deaths that came with it;
2. author Linden MacIntyre, former host of one of Canada's investigative TV shows, the fifth estate, exhibits a large amount of research in this narrative nonfiction. The chapters are broken down into quick, easy-to-read sections. Many names are mentioned, but MacIntyre's writing style helped me keep track of them;
3. chapters labeled Conversations with the Dead added a nice personal touch between the author and his father in relation to this story;
4. the American shipwrecks of 1942 near the Burin Peninsula and the aftermath that followed for Newfoundland was captivating;
5. the inclusion of two maps and 16 pages of black & white photos were very helpful; and,
6. I learned what "daughters of radon" are. Terrifying!

Niggle:
The title is somewhat misleading in that I thought the book would be solely about the earthquake and tsunami that hit southern Newfoundland in 1929. These natural disasters and their immediate consequences were covered by page 79. However, the subtitle alludes to the deadly manmade aftermath caused by these events.

Overall Thoughts:
I knew that Newfoundland joined the Dominion of Canada in 1949, but I was totally unaware of the events leading up to it. Written clearly and concisely, I could easily follow along with the events showcased and the people involved.
It's a story of greed, corruption, and manipulation, all at the cost of hardworking people who just wanted to make a decent living to support their families.
A shameful part of Canadian history.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Special thanks to my 2019 Goodreads Secret Sender for gifting me this book. Several years ago I read The Bishop's Man by Linden MacIntyre, so I knew that The Wake: The Deadly Legacy Of A Newfoundland Tsunami would be a good book.

I was aware that there was a tsunami in 1929, and that it severed transatlantic cables on the ocean floor. But I did not know about the devastation and loss of life it caused in Burin, Newfoundland.

"For Newfoundlanders, the first half of the twentieth century had been a dizzying succession of catastrophes: natural disaster; horrific wartime casualties; poverty, plagues and riots; the collapse of a democracy and a divisive national debate about the political future of the island."

I did not know about the Fluorspar Mines in St. Lawrence, Newfoundland nor the shipwrecks of USS Truxtun and U.S. Navy supply ship Pollux on February 18, 1942.

"The entire town became an extended rescue station, and one of the survivors, an African American named Lanier Phillips, from Georgia - who said that he had never before in his life experienced an act of kindness from a white person - would later declare that the generosity of the people in St. Lawrence permanently transformed his feelings for mankind and for himself. "We are creatures of what we're taught and the people of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland, taught me that I was a human being,"he later told an interviewer."

"But as war is a supreme man-made calamity, all lesser calamities of human failure are a form of war."

I agree with the following quote by Russell Wangersky, author of Whirl Away, Scotiabank Giller Prize finalist.
"Fast paced and near unstoppable, The Wake is the kind of book you can't put down. Linden McIntyre's relentless voice just won't let you stop reading, deftly showing how man and nature stacked the dice against the people of small town Newfoundland, who suffered their own form of near-Biblical plagues. The Wake will leave you shaken and angry at the ease with which real live people can become the pawns of careless powers."

"Beautifully written, both descriptively and analytically precise, and a significant contribution. " - Elliott Leyton, anthropologist and author of Dying Hard

[Jack Beaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Corporate greed and desperate government is a bad combination and the mining industry continues this MO, in Nova Scotia and around the world. This book tells the painful story.
But the personal touch, the Conversations with the Dead, made this book a beauty.

[Brithanie Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐


ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.


The Wake: The Deadly Legacy Of A Newfoundland Tsunami by Linden MacIntyre is an upcoming non-fiction that focuses on November 18th, 1929- the day a tsunami struck Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula- killing 28 people, and leaving hundreds more homeless or destitute.

As a Newfoundlander I was pleasantly surprised when the opportunity to read/review a book based on the history of the province I was born and raised in came up! I should've known that this book would hit close to home! I've never been someone who has read a lot of non-fiction, but I'm glad I chose to request this one, because as hard as it was to read at times- I'm grateful to have gained more knowledge on this particular disaster and the survival of those who were left in the tsunami's wake.

Full transparency- I was rubbish at history in high school, but this was written in a way that held even my interest the entire time I was reading it, and it's always a huge bonus when a book prompts you to do your own research on the subject you've been reading about!

I did struggle with what I wanted to rate this book in the end, but I settled for a 4, and I will definitely be recommending this to the few friends that I know will truly appreciate it!

[Ian M. Pyatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was hoping for more on the tsunami since that was in the title and not so much of the good, bad and ugly of the mining industry.

That being said, the book was well researched as evident in MacIntyre's acknowledgements and notes sections.

The three historical mentions; tsunami, shipwreck of 1942 and the lengthy battles with mining executives and governments, were well written and simple to read, although the details of the lives and livelihoods lost were heart-wrenching.

The details of how the miners were treated for many years is a head-scratcher and they seemed to be treated like pawns in a chess game and as humans.

The politics between the "nation" of Newfoundland of wanting to stay separate and not becoming a part of Canada and how Joey Smallwood played an integral part of NFLD joining the rest of Canada was not something I was totally aware of, but soon will as Wayne Johnston's "Newfoundland Trilogy" is on my TBR list.

Recommended for fans of Linden MacIntyre and Newfoundland history.

[~☆~Autumn · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title is very misleading as only the first small bit is about the earthquake and the tsunami. I am so disappointed. He is a good writer but then he goes off into bad government in St. John's which is so boring and I don't care about at all. Then he starts in telling us about a mine where they did not pay the miners which is horrifying. I lived 2 years in Newfoundland and my major depression started there. At one point they thought I had TB and he does mention that TB is all over Newfoundland or was. Mom said I played with a little Newfoundland boy who had TB. I wonder if he is still alive.

NOT recommended unless you are a Newfie as it is too boring and depressing.

[Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is devastating in so many respects. The shock of the tsunami, though tragic, has long since worn off for me - it’s a favourite among elementary kids for heritage fair projects. However, the plight of all Newfoundlanders in the years before confederation, and the uninformed attitudes of outsiders towards them, had me welling up. Then to learn of the terrible history of mining in St. Lawrence was both appalling and deeply upsetting. Such tragedy is difficult to fathom.

[Noelle Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that should be mandatory reading for anyone from Newfoundland, anyone with connections to Newfoundland and history buffs in general. I for one got a much deeper understanding of the 1929 tsunami that affected the Burin Peninsula and struck so close to home. I also got an education about the aftermath, and how much it affected the people long afterward in relation to the mining that began. I felt so angry at the government and those in charge of allowing such horrible conditions to continue and putting so many people at risk. It really goes to show that bad government and corporate greed make for some of the worst bedfellows.

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 I was disappointed with this book and I suspect it’s my own fault. I thought this was going to be a book about the tsunami that occurred in Newfoundland. It had been news to me and I was very interested in reading about it. Although there were many names to follow and keep track of in the beginning, the book was very interesting. Unfortunately only the first couple of chapters dealt with the part that drew me to the book in the first place and the rest of the book was actually about the fallout to the communities affected and focused on the mining that sprang up after the fishing industry was destroyed.

The tsunami devastated the fishing industry right at the time of the Great Depression so these communities were hit very hard. And along comes this guy with a big idea for starting a mining venture to a place so hard hit by the depression that it’s ripe for the kind of proposition he pitches to them which is that he wants to mine for this particular substance which turns out to be so toxic that within a number of years most of the men working it will die of a terrible lung disease. He basically has no capital, no machines, no money to even pay the men at first and in the end no regard for their well being. This is the heart of the story. How the communities were affected by the mining industry and the effects it had on the men and their families. Would the men of these hard hit communities have been so motivated to work these mines that ultimately led to their early deaths if not for that calamitous tsunami? The author appears to think not given he begins their story with the telling of it.

So an interesting story to be told but it just wasn’t the story I thought I’d be reading about. There was a lot of detailed information that felt unnecessary. Also a lot of names to keep track of and alas names have never been my strong suit. For the most part, despite the interesting subject matter I just couldn’t sustain my engagement with the book and for me it was all the details. I think I would have enjoyed it more had there been less information on some of the matters covered, especially involving the government. I did enjoy the parts where the author shared his personal connection and wrote of his father and those parts were the most engaging for me. There seemed to be a lot of grace and understanding and I appreciated reading about that though sometimes it didn’t seem to fit with the broader narrative he was writing about. I think I’d love to read more about his dad and the prose for that was kind, engaging and quite lovely.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book club choice, one I’d have been unlikely to have happened across on my own, but full of riveting detail about the history of Newfoundland and the hard lives and unimaginable perseverance of the much-exploited people living in the outports.

Linden MacIntyre is well known in Canada, first as a newspaper reporter, then as a TV journalist, eventually becoming one of the hosts of The Fifth Estate, a 60 Minutes-like investigative series. He’s also a respected and best-selling novelist. So these well-honed writing and investigative skills were at his service in this hard, passionate look at the long confluence of events that led to his own father’s death at 50 after working in a hazardous Newfoundland fluorspar mine.

The story of the destruction of the 1929 tsunami that wiped out several communities on Newfoundland’s Burin peninsula is fascinating in itself. It’s well-researched and beautifully told. But it’s just the first link in a chain of events that led to the establishment of a number of mines that were jaw-droppingly poorly managed. People were so desperate for employment that they worked for nothing but the promise of pay once the first contract had been fulfilled. Exploitation was rife, as was corruption, and the eventual cost in human lives (mostly from lung cancer) well into the 1990s, decades after the mines shut down, was staggering. It made me fully appreciate once again the people of Newfoundland, who seem able to bear—with generosity and cheerfulness—almost anything. Not to be missed: the story of the perilous nighttime rescue of hundreds of U.S. sailors from two winter-storm-wrecked foundering ships during the Second World War, this by people who had, just over a decade earlier, been virtually wiped out by the tsunami and who literally gave the freezing sailors the shirts off their backs (and pretty much anything else they had).

[Natasha Penney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I worked at The Southern Gazette in Marystown on the Burin Peninsula and I covered the 70th anniversary of the tsunami. This story as so familiar, and yet so in-depth even with my knowledge of the area and its history. It kept me engaged right through to the end. I appreciated the attention to the context of Newfoundland and Great Britain’s political and economic woes at the time. Greed, desperation and a perfect storm of natural and economic disasters have certainly left a lasting legacy in my home province. This is a good book that tells an undoubtedly compelling story.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the topic was very interesting, the author's story telling style did not jive with me at all. I found myself skipping repetitive paragraphs, and losing track of the timeline of events often. I ended up referring to online resources to get a better picture of events. Oh, and a heads up to any unassuming future reader... this book is more about politics than anything else.

[❀ Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is hard to believe that tsunami in Newfoundland is a piece of history that most Canadians are not aware of. The Wake describes the terrible tsunami, which was the aftermath of an earthquake, and then reaches far beyond that fateful day when 28 individuals, many of which were children, were swept to sea along with houses, wharves, boats and their livelihoods. The fishing industry was decimated.

What happened next was worse, mining which caused a legacy of cancers and lung disease, wiping out generations of men who had little choice but to work in the mines to feed their families. Safety equipment and protocols were substandard, to say the least. The men didn't even have hard helmets and were drinking run off water in the mines. They had limited success fighting for wages, safety standards and support following workplace injuries.

While I enjoyed the history, it was hard to follow all the names of individuals and their families. A page with family trees might have been helpful but in the end, I didn't worry about keeping track of the names and just immersed myself in the history with horror to the think of the generations of deaths that followed the tsunami.

I had been lucky enough to hear the author speak of this novel which was connected to his own family history. HIs dad had been a mine supervisor and died at a very young age. As I read the words, I could hear Linden MacIntyre's voice and was continually impressed with all the detailed research he completed to write the story.

[Orla Hegarty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been living in my small outport Newfoundland community since 2013. I am a Toronto transplant. I like to say the wind blew me here but that's the elevator version.

The local school in my community was demolished sometime in the late 90s or so. I have often been asked, "did I see a picture of it?" "It was beautiful." "Solid structure." "Shame it is gone." A few months ago a local older man told me with bursting pride that he was one of the first attendees at this school in the 60s and it had proper flush toilets and urinals, in the 60s, and it was the first school with these amenities in all of rural Newfoundland. And his father and the community had built it.

So. Reading this book resonated. Deeply.

The other day I mentioned that I was reading it to a local that spent 20 years living in the community of St. Lawrence and she immediately told me about the rescue efforts of the american shipwrecks in 1942. How that defined the communities. And I listened to her with amazement because it was as if she was hiding the horrors behind this event. The rescue efforts overrided all else. Because yes, if push comes to shove then Newfoundlanders are known for their kindness and their incredible fortitude when facing challenges.

Mr. MacIntyre captured the essence of this even if in a rather dry retelling - complete with slights against newfoundlanders that only I as a cfa (come from away) can immediately cringe about and thus know why his non-fiction 'story' has not received more praise here in my new home province.

[ATLANTIC BOOK REVIEWS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Linden MacIntyre once again proves his superior ability to provide us with excellent and well researched facts while weaving a story among the lines. I can not tell you how many times I uttered the words "I did not know" while reading this book. I can not tell you how horrible I felt at my ignorance of such a tragedy playing out during my lifetime. I kept thinking why do I know so much about the Halifax Explosion and know nothing of this story.
"The Dread" is something referred to in this book to describe a situation happening in Newfoundland. I felt dread, heartbreak, heartache, anger and a deep sense of tragedy while turning these pages. So much suffering. So many lives affected. The events in this story happening in a part of Canada so close to where I was growing up in an idyllic childhood in another part of the Maritimes.
An important story. A story to be read most certainly by all Maritimers, but also by all Canadians. We think that lives like the ones lived by Newfoundlanders during the events of this book, only happen in other parts of the world, but Linden MacIntyre makes it clear that horrible injustices are happening so close to "home."

[Elizabeth Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love anything about Newfoundland. I love disaster books. This book has everything I love. However, I am very dispointed in the quality of the writing. I have enjoyed most of mcintyres books. But I felt as though he felt he had to pad the story with frequent repetition of incidents and reflections. There was a lot of unnecessary jumping around in time. Endless forewarnings but not getting to it. Very strange.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read, although it is more about the St-Lawrence mining industry than it is about the tsunami.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

On November 2nd, 1929 a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck deep in the water off the coast of Atlantic Canada.  While it would only shake for a few moments, the real damage would follow shortly.  A destructive tsunami would batter St. Lawrence, a small fishing village on the southwestern coast of Newfoundland.  In the end, twenty eight people would lose their lives and a town would suffer unimaginable loss.  When all was said and done, one hundred and twenty eight thousand kilos of salt cod would vanish effectively destroying the livelihoods of the townsfolk.  With Newfoundland already in a financial crisis, this would only further strain an island struggling to feed its inhabitants

While also achieving success as a novelist, Linden MacIntyre had previously made his name as an investigative journalist working for CBC television’s The Fifth Estate.  Given his long and storied career in the news media, it isn’t a shock the depth of research he undertook to produce a book of this scope.  MacIntyre had to dig deep to find first-hand accounts of the disaster that took place nearly ninety years ago.  The stories told of the water retreating - visuals of fishing boats resting on the ocean floor - before the massive twenty foot wave’s arrival were horrifying.  MacIntyre does an incredible job piecing together the events of that night as men and women fought for their lives against the uncaring destruction of mother nature.

While MacIntyre excellently conveys the horror of the events of that night, the true horror lies in what unfolds following the disaster.  With the town’s tent pole industry no longer viable, a man arrives in town with a plan: open a mine; and with villagers living on the dole ($1.80 a month), what choice do they have but take the first job available?  MacIntyre describes the damn near criminal conditions the employees were forced to work under while also making note of the infrequency of paychecks.  Miners were breathing in copious amounts of dust and dirt, destroying their lungs in the process.  To make matters worse, there wasn’t even a proper doctor in town let alone a hospital.

What I said above is just scratching the surface with regards to the scope of this book.  MacIntyre also touches on the depths of civilian poverty juxtaposed with the extent of government corruption by those in power, Newfoundland’s inadvertent role in the Manhattan Project and a seaside rescue mission.  There’s so much more to this book than just the wave and rather than digging deeper in my review, I’ll let you discover it yourself.

The Wake is one of the best books I’ve read so far this year and I easily expect to see it land on my top five reads of 2019.

[Guylou (Two Dogs and a Book) · Rating 5 out of 5]

📚 Hello Book Friends! THE WAKE – The Deadly Legacy of a Newfoundland Tsunami by Linden MacIntyre was a heart wrenching account of major events that took place between 1929 and today. These events defined a small community in the province of Newfoundland called St. Lawrence. I was moved by this non-fiction book, and it also gave a new appreciation for the wonderful people who live in this rugged province. If you are Canadian, I recommend that you pick up a copy and discover the stories of courage, generosity, and determination demonstrated by Newfoundlanders. You will also see the other side of the medal and discover how they were lied to, stolen from, and ultimately murdered by the mining industry greed. This was an eye opener for me and I truly appreciated learning more about these strong people and their history.

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[Amie's Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Linden MacIntyre has somehow managed to make the Newfoundland tsunami in the 1920s seem as if it happened just yesterday.

Deeply researched and profoundly moving, this book needs to be on every Canadians "To Read" list.

This is the true history of Canada. It is about the people who were affected. It also demonstrates how that deadly day changed the course of so many lives.

This one is a MUST READ.

Definitely worthy of 5 out of 5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

#Canadian #CanadianHistory #tsunami #EastCoast #CanLit #MustRead #Canada #disaster

[Reagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important piece of Newfoundland history recounting several local tragedies affecting hundreds of people. I started this book expecting to learn about the 1929 tsunami and its aftermath. I finished it with deep sympathy and respect for the community, and feelings of anger towards the political players of the time who let them down so terribly. It’s a thorough, well-written, moving account in solidarity with the hardworking people whose stories should be remembered and shared.

[Dean Jobb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twenty-seven people who died in November 1929 when an undersea earthquake unleashed towering tsunamis on Newfoundland's isolated Burin Peninsula, shattering houses and fishing gear and wiping out livelihoods. It was the first of two disasters to befall the hardscrabble region. The other was human-made – mines established in the community of St. Lawrence to extract the mineral fluorspar, which offered jobs and hope to unemployed fishermen. Radiation and dust slowly killed hundreds of them. “It started with an earthquake,” Linden MacIntyre writes of this twin disaster. “It ended with a plague.”

MacIntyre’s storytelling is as powerful and relentless as the wall of water that left so much devastation in its wake. This heartfelt account is a sobering reminder of nature’s fury and the human cost of greed and corporate indifference.

[Golfergirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this book 3 stars. The author brought to light an overlooked or ignored tragedy for the people of this community. The style of writing was rather like a documentary. I must confess I did not finish reading this book. I read about 80% but found it became repetitive. However it is so disappointing that the government was made aware of their problems but took years (and lives lost) to act. And then it was likely too little too late. I admire the strength of the residents and the courage of those who fought to bring change. We need to recognize authors who take on the task of shedding light on events that would otherwise remain unknown. This was a sad piece of Canadian history that should never be repeated!

[Gerardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent effort by the author to make available the history of a specific area of Newfoundland (Burin peninsula), from the 1929 tsunami until the present century. Detail and emphasis on 1929 to the 1960's.

The story is centered in St Lawrence, a small town in the Burin peninsula. The human quality of all people in the area, many of them just surviving, is magnificent. Unfortunately, they were hit by a tsunami and later by a mining enterprise for which they were treated pretty much as slaves.
The government of the Dominion first, and the Canadian province from 1949 on helped with their action or rather lack of it. Entirely on my own, I would not be surprised if some kickbacks happened too, considering the rampant corruption.

The following paragraph, approaching the end of the book synthesizes the story:
"Future choices and decisions will be informed by memory. The memory of bad luck, bad faith, bad management and bad governance should serve the future well. But the future, like the past, will also be determined by necessity."

The Wake is very detailed, verywell documented, with testimonials from survivors even. Even with all this virtues, it is a heavy reading. Stories are many times repeated, when looking from different angles to the same reality.

All in all, I've learned an important piece of Newfoundland's past, sad at it was.

[Maearle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is really not well known being a small community in Newfoundland. People have heard of the tidal wave but very limited. Linden, being a journalist has researched this event and more importantly the wake of this tragedy and how it affected the people who lost their livelihood of fishing as a result. Mining was thought to be something that could save these communities and give men work so they could support their families. However, with little safety regulations, outdated equipment and untrained workers it was another tragedy and killed as many people but in a long, slow torturous way. We have learned a lot about the dangers of mining, both to life and health, but we have not learned how to provide fair and safe work to vulnerable people. Miners have been so unjustly taken advantage of and despite the dangerous work, today, they still do not have the rights and protections that they should. Take this story, and put it in other places in the world, today, and you will see the same suffering and ill health. Mining is essential for this modern world but this story will give some insight to the perils of the work.

[Anolting · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I have loved most of Linden MacIntyre’s books, especially his fiction. This book tells a compelling true story about a community in Newfoundland that I knew little about, but now would love to visit. I stayed up past my bedtime to keep reading. The story was told with a focus on the human beings that were affected by the tragic events described in the book. It was filled with love and compassion for the community that brings the reader into the hearts and homes of extraordinary-ordinary people. I probably would have given this book a 4, except for one thing. I found that details of the story were repeated in multiple places within the book. For some reason this drove me crazy, and I felt it created discontinuities while reading it. I would still recommend this book to others.

[Stacie Dore · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am glad that I got to know the story of the small town of St Lawrence Newfoundland; how after a tsunami wiped out the small town and its fishing industry, a mining company was able to swoop in, fill the void an exploit the families who live there. The lack of government oversight and the people's lack of knowledge and options, led to working conditions ultimately more deadly than the tsunami itself...I did not love MacIntyre's writing style. I felt like his attempted use of literary techniques (oh my the foreshadowing!) and desire to include all the complexities and details of events got in the way of telling a concise story that I could really get attached to.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is two tales woven into one. Both are true.

The first is the story of a little coastal town that was screwed over by both big business and Mother Nature. The storytelling is fast paced and compelling, MacIntyre’s wordcraft is as always flawless. It was very difficult to put down.

And then, there is a second, quieter story: The story of Linden MacIntyre and his father. The pacing of this tale is a little slower, as it should be, more contemplative. It is a story of fathers and sons and legacy and love and loss. Although not taking up much airtime in the book, it provides integral buttressing to the greater narrative.

This is Canadian writing at its finest. I enjoy all of MacIntyre’s work, but this one was exceptional.

[Shyla W · Rating 5 out of 5]

A historical book following the aftermath of the 1929 tsunami on Newfoundlands Burin Peninsula. It is particularly interesting as the St. Lawerence Fluorspar Mine negations for restarting the mine are anticipated to close a new deal in 4 days time (Feb 26, 2023).

[Ralph Cann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be required reading for High School students in Canada.