The Saints of Big Harbour: A Novel [Hardcover]

Lynn Coady (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 7, 2002

Lynn Coady’s fiction has been called “striking . . . [full of] crazy energy and hilarity” (National Post) and hailed for “avoiding the trendy, distancing devices of satire, cynicism and irony” (Globe and Mail). Coady’s third book, her first to be published in the United States, portrays a small community in Nova Scotia and the power of gossip and violence within it.
In "Saints of Big Harbour," Guy Boucher, a fatherless teenager, finds himself at the center of an ugly rumor involving a girl idealized by her town. Through his eyes and the stories of those who surround him — his uncle Isadore, Dickensian and overbearing; Pam, a quietly wise girl with a predilection for Shakespeare; his draft-dodger English teacher; a pair of golden boys stuck in emotional adolescence — several versions of truth emerge and combine. As the story unfolds, so does a portrait of a community driven and oppressed by clichés of gender, strength and beauty, family and love. Villainy is an everyday affair in Big Harbour, and the closest thing to heroism is Guy’s dogged ingenuousness and makeshift dignity.
In this, her most entertaining and profound book, Coady returns to the fertile territory explored by Ann-Marie MacDonald and Alistair MacLeod and again “displays a virtuosic charting of psychic ambiguity that never quits” (Toronto Star).

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Canadian novelist Coady makes her American debut with this touching and funny story of a teenage boy who becomes the victim of the rumor mill in his small rural Nova Scotia community in the early 1980s. Guy Boucher lives with his overworked mother, his reclusive goth sister and his loud, opinionated, boorishly conservative and usually drunk Uncle Isadore. The likable Guy is socially awkward but perceptive and intelligent, with a sharp wit that usually deserts him when he opens his mouth. Guy becomes enamoured of pretty, popular Corinne Fortune, a pampered girl from nearby Big Harbour who rejects him. Caught in a web of lies she's already spun about an imaginary boyfriend, and motivated by a teenager's taste for melodrama, Corinne tells a friend that Guy has treated her brutally. In the way of small communities, her untruths pass from mouth to mouth, gaining momentum until the whole town is worked up in a collective rage over the unwitting Guy, who can't understand why he's getting so many dirty looks. The novel is told from the alternating viewpoints of Guy, Corinne and other supporting characters, including Corinne's serious, sensible best friend, Pam; Corinne's precocious and neurotic older brother, Howard; and Guy's former English teacher, Alison, an American draft dodger and drinking buddy of Isadore's who habitually hangs out (or passes out) at Guy's house and becomes his unlikely mentor. Coady's voice is assured, and she has a sensitive ear for dysfunctional family dynamics and teenage posturing. Though the characters are not equally well developed one wishes that Corinne in particular was more nuanced this is an affecting coming-of-age story and a darkly comic picture of an insular, down-at-the-heels and alcohol-soddened community.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

With this work (the author's second novel and first U.S. release), Canadian-born Coady marks herself as a literary talent to watch. While writing from the alternating perspectives of several key players, she centers on Guy Boucher, a teenager in Big Harbor, Cape Breton, who is trying to find his way amid a chaotic family and small-town justice. The story begins with Guy's Uncle Isadore, a career alcoholic oblivious to the wreckage he causes around him, whom a local judge places in the custody of his impoverished sister, Marianne, and her two teenagers. In exchange, Marianne is granted the use of Isadore's truck, which enables her to take a job and also lets Guy drive to town to see Corinne Fortune, a beautiful but troubled girl who complicates his life in an unexpected way. Coady stunningly captures the torment of adolescence as well as Uncle Isadore's inscrutable charm; no matter how strongly readers may want to detest Uncle Isadore, they will be unable to resist him. Highly recommended for most literary fiction collections.
Tamara Butler, Olean P.L., NY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (November 7, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618119760
• ISBN-13: 978-0618119769
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,387,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read, October 30, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Saints of Big Harbour: A Novel (Hardcover)

Lynn Coady's writing reminds me of Roddy Doyle's. In Saints of Big Harbour, she draws a hilarious and energetic portrait of a pretty dysfunctional small town. Her dialogue is excellent, and her characters are well-drawn. I'd really recommend this book to anyone who likes fiction with a sense of humor, a sense of place and a great ear for the way people talk.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good storytelling, December 14, 2004

By 

R.J. (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Saints of Big Harbour: A Novel (Hardcover)

Small town Nova Scotia is the backdrop for this well-paced novel. A teenaged boy named Guy Boucher goes through his rites of passage, with an overbearing and bombastic uncle dominating and challenging him. A chance meeting with a girl at a school dance leads to problems as she just wanted to play around, while Guy becomes obsessed, and soon becomes the victim of false stories and becomes a target. Meanwhile Guy gets caught up in hockey and boxing, trying to find his way and to show his uncle that he's a man.

Other characters are interesting here too; the loyal unattractive best friend who clings to her popular pal desperately; the protective and unpredictable older brother; the popular yet intelligent guy who's forgotten about college so he can stay in town with his buddies, and the struggling single mother who has very little joy in her life.

It's pure Canadiana here, you can see the lumberjack jackets and smell the Tim Horton's coffee. For most of the book it's a fun and engrossing read, and to me it's far superior to overblown CanLit such as Fall On Your Knees. Still, the pace slackens in the latter third of the book, the plot tends to go all over the place by then. It's still worthwhile and a fun read.

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect, January 9, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Saints of Big Harbour (Hardcover)

I read this book early in 2002. It was a pity that was published so early in the year as prize jurors completely ignored what was one of the top five books of 2002.

I was enthralled by Coady's storytelling abilities. She wove a complex story about complex (sometimes hearbreaking sometimes hilarious) people and a year of their lives. She is a master of voice and tone. Saints of Big Harbour reads like it was written with the mastery of an older author but with the freshness of youth.

Saints of Big Harbour is a perfect book.