Travels with Farley: A Memoir

by Claire Mowat

Claire Mowat and her husband, Farley, spent the first five years of their marriage living in an isolated Newfoundland outport. It was out of that experience that Claire Mowat was inspired to write her acclaimed memoir The Outport People. As Farleys writing career took off, they decided to return to Ontario, to be closer to the publishing world. Farley and Claire settled down to raise a family in the picturesque town of Port Hope, where Farleys mother was living. After the tragic stillborn death of their first and only child, Farley persuaded Claire to leave Port Hope and go with him to the Magdalen Islands to make a film with the CBC on lobster fishing. They immediately fell in love with the windswept islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Soon they had bought a house there, on the edge of one of the only English-speaking communities in the archipelago. Their Magdalen Island home became an exotic destination for friends and luminaries of the periodPierre and Margaret Trudeau arrived by helicopter one afternoon, although most visitors took the ferry from Prince Edward Island.With a nod to John Steinbecks Travels with Charley, Claire Mowat has crafted a second memoir as charming and insightful as the first, providing an intimate portrait of a marriage and a window on Farley Mowats writing life during the period in which he wrote A Whale for the Killing and Sibir, and began the research for Sea of Slaughter.

Genres: Canada, Memoir, Nonfiction, Travel

272 pages, Hardcover

First published August 10, 2005

About the author

Married Farley Mowat (an author), March 29, 1965.

Reviews

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A supremely readable memoir about Claire Mowat's travels with Canadian icon Farley Mowat starting in 1969. TheMagdalen Islands are much featured as the couple purchases property there. Their experience being part of an English minority is thought-provoking. Meetings with famous politicians, hippies, lobster fishermen and a steady stream of company bring the times and places to life.

From the sorrowful opening hospital scene to the final wistful move, this glimpse of writing life in a bygone Canada is well worth exploring.

I'm adding Claire Mowat's The Outport People to my to-read list.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an amazing woman. Her writing is like reading her well-thought out journal. We met her today at a book signing. At 83, she is vibrant, interested and, unbelievably sharp. She was preparing to head off to Cape Breton for the summer and busy organizing Farley's papers. She said she has only 14 more years to go. I bet she does it.

[Paula Xanthopoulou · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another beautiful book by Claire Mowat...beautiful because she writes so well AND wrote 6 books while the full-time (and totally adventurous) helpmate of prolific author husband Farley Mowat. In fact, she reveals moments when she was discouraged -- NOT by Farley -- by some who thought she shouldn't have time for her own pursuits. This book is a very informative memoir, especially as regards Port Hope and the home on King Street (b. 1840) originally owned by Farley's parents and where she still lives. Who knew that the KFC would have been built at the end of the town's picturesque main street had it not been for town activists like Claire and Farley? She makes her first of 6 trips to Greenland where a US military presence abounded and talks about Lord Dufferin importing Icelanders to inhabit a lonely stretch in Manitoba. The author also reveals her own fears and sometimes less than pleasant relations with family members...and what drove the Mowats out of the Grand Entry in the Magdalens and to "The Brickery" on Cape Breton Island. Claire Mowat at 87 is working on a new book...Can hardly wait!

[Paula Dembeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Claire and Farley Mowat spent their first married years living on an isolated outport in Newfoundland. As Farley’s writing career gained momentum, he wanted to be nearer the publishing world and so the couple decided to return to Ontario and settled in the town of Port Hope. Here they hoped to raise a family, but they were struck by tragedy when their only child, their first born, was stillborn. Following this unfortunate event, Farley persuaded Claire to travel with him to the Magdalen Islands to make a film about lobster fishing with the CBC.

They both fell in love with these beautiful islands at the mouth of the St Lawrence, and decided to stay and buy a home. During this period while they lived on the islands, Farley wrote “A Whale for the Killing” and “Sibir”. And Claire, encouraged by Farley, decided to start this book, her second memoir.

In this volume she details not only the beauty of the archipelago, but also the difficulty of being outsiders in such a small isolated community where the ongoing tensions between the English and the French still hovered like an invisible blanket. She shares visits from interesting friends including Pierre and Margaret Trudeau who arrived for their visit by helicopter.

Claire also writes of the ongoing strain in her marriage, marked by the difficult family relationships that resulted from Farley’s divorce from his first wife and his father’s divorce from Farley’s mother.

This is an interesting glimpse into the life of two writers as well as a portrait of a marriage and a travelogue to a beautiful group of islands.

An interesting read.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read several of Farley Mowat's books but this is my 1st by Claire Mowat. It was a definitely a real find at the last library book sale!
While reading Claire's book, I felt like I was reading a personal journal. The day to day life of a wife, partner, author and proud Canadian was the perfect book for me at the end of my work day. The friends and family of Claire and Farley are interesting and real as are their situations. It never felt like "name dropping" when she talked about spending the weekend with Pierre and Margaret Trudeau -it was about people spending time with friends and sharing opinions and quiet times. There was some political talk in the book -I guess it would be hard to ignore the bearded elephant in the room (Farley) and his opinions and beliefs. But the family moments were so real -the love, frustration, disagreements and eventual realization that sometimes family times suck - were just part of Claire's "journal".
I'm so glad that I found this book on the table. I will be stopping at a bookstore to search for "The Outport People" very soon.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

journal style -interesting to follow the brief time in the life of Farley and Claire and their travels across much of Canada. He had such concern for environmental issues long before "climate change" became a current issue. We should have paid more attention in the "60s, "70s and on.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Claire Mowat's stories were so interesting. I have read some of Farley's books and will continue to reading his books. During our travels we have been in many of the same places that the Mowats traveled and lived. It was fun to read about these places. The history of the peoples of Canada and Greenland was especially interesting. I am very interested in the native peoples. Different clans, nations, and peoples do not get along. WHY? That doesn't change, no matter what the country is.

I learned of Farley's death when we were touring the Canadian Canoe Museum. I have found several of Farley's books during our travels through Canada.

Thank you Claire for writing this book. I will search for your published books also.

[Lenore · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. She is a great writer. I have read several books by Farley and didn't know she is a writer. I enjoyed very much hearing about their travels through various places in Canada that I know well. They are so interested in people and places of our country. A very enjoybable read.

[James Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Memoirs can be great fun to read, or they can be boringly self-indulgent. It all depends on the memoirist. In Claire Mowat's Travels with Farley (2015 Pottersfield Press), we have a surprisingly candid, friendly and concise memoirist as the late Canadian author Farley Mowat's wife takes us through a whirlwind tour of their years together from 1969 to about 1976, shortly after they left Newfoundland and to the time they settled in Cape Breton.

I found this book to be part memoir, part travelogue (since the Mowats moved and travelled extensively in those seven years alone) and part time capsule, since so much was happening in Canada (Trudeaumania, for example) and in the world: Vietnam, the Cold War, the Hippie era just to name a few. Ms. Mowat manages to create a seamless, flowing work that is actually difficult to put down even if you are not that familiar with Farley Mowat the author or the man. Their lives are filled with so much travelling, moving back and forth and entertaining friends all while trying to write books (Ms. Mowat is an author herself) that it all appears very exciting, especially to those of us who lead a relatively sedentary lifestyle.

As I mentioned earlier, the book is part time capsule in my opinion since it was written at a time when I was entering my teen years. As such, the places mentioned (like Port Hope, Picton and Toronto), events (FLQ crisis, Kent State) and people that pop up throughout the book are quite familiar to me.
The rest of my review can be found at: http://wp.me/p60sTD-ab

[Ivy Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story about an amazing author leaves a lot to be desired. The plot is fairly slow moving although had great detail. Both Farley and Claire clearly have lead interesting lives a lot of the details are spread out causing the bookt o drag somewhat

[Nancy Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't know Farley & Clara Mowat lived on the Magdalen Islands during
Pierre Trudeau's time.