The Good Women of Safe Harbour by Bobbi French wins N.L. Reads 2023
Public votes French's novel as 'must-read' book in the province in sixth N.L. Reads
The Good Women of Safe Harbour is about a woman who finally gives herself a chance to love and be loved.
N.L. Reads 2023 is a celebration of Newfoundland and Labrador books, authors and readers. French was named winner at a public event at A.C. Hunter Public Library in St. John's on Wednesday.
Over the last four months, four new local books have been in the running for the title of Newfoundland and Labrador's "must-read" book of the year, as determined by the reading public of the province.
Newfoundland and Labrador Public Libraries' provincial "Battle of the Books" was inspired by the CBC's popular annual literary event Canada Reads.
N.L. Reads is now in its sixth year.
The Good Women of Safe Harbour by Bobbi French, published by Harper Avenue
Synopsis: Frances Delaney is staring down the last days of her life. Looking back over her 58 years with wit and no small amount of regret, she sees not the life she wanted but the one that happened. An idyllic childhood in the small Newfoundland fishing town of Safe Harbour was darkened by the loss of her father at sea, an unwanted pregnancy and a betrayal by her closest friend, Annie Malone. Frances and Annie were inseparable, and the rupture rocked Frances to the core. In the aftermath, she fled to St. John's and a solitary life nothing like what she and Annie had dreamed of as their grand escape. Now, with the help of her young, optimistic friend Edie, Frances begins a journey toward resolution and back to Annie and Safe Harbour. With these good women in her corner, Frances can at last chart her course to living on her own terms, right to the very end.
Here are the 2023 contenders:
Urchin by Kate Story, published by Running the Goat Books and Broadsides
Synopsis: They say Dor's family is cursed. The house her great-great grandfather built on the south side of St. John's has never been at peace; the old people think it lies on a fairy path. Ever since electricity came to the island, things have worsened, and experiments in the brand-new technology of radio put her family in real peril. In December 1901, Marconi arrives in Newfoundland with a secret mission: to receive the first wireless transatlantic radio signal. Disguised as a boy, Dor joins his team. Then the Little Strangers kidnap her mother. Must Dor sabotage Marconi's experiments to save her?
The Wards by Terry Doyle, published by Breakwater Books
Synopsis: The Wards are a working-class Newfoundland family on the cusp of upheaval. The children are becoming adults, the adults are growing old, and the new dog was probably stolen. When a sudden illness forces the Wards together, can they finally learn to be close-knit?
This unsettling and at times hilarious novel explores the instability of nuclear families and the depths of dysfunction. Family is family — you don't get to choose.
The Love Olympics by Claire Wilkshire, published by Breakwater Books
Synopsis: Characters weave their way in and out of The Love Olympics, a collection of short fiction set in St. John's. The book is about various forms of love — the ways love grips us, shakes us, releases or envelops us. The stories are smart, witty, funny, warm and surprising; they capture the preoccupations of characters from different generations who are closely or only tangentially connected to one another. This collection explores people's aspirations, fears and vulnerabilities; their generosity and desire for connection; their willingness to see past flaws and appreciate other human beings in all their complexity.
