The Jolly Lobster is a very gay adventure featuring rum runners, speakeasies, brothels, and love in Halifax during Prohibition. It's the summer of 1920 and Ed Stevenson, is lost and flat broke in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Fortunately for Ed, his lover Charles Sinclair, who had served with him during the war, has been searching for him in all the local juice joints, speakeasies and blind pigs. Reunited, the two prepare to embark on the new life together they planned during their time in the trenches. Little did Ed know that in order to earn a living, he'd end up working in a speakeasy; but this was not any old speakeasy, this was The Jolly Lobster. The Jolly Lobster was one of the more popular speakeasies in Halifax, catering to all types and run by two lovable woman trying to make ends meet; Dorothy and her large lover, Rose. Dock workers, fishermen, university students, and colourful men and women of the homosexual persuasion all mixed and mingled at The Jolly Lobster, in order to sate their thirst for rum, whiskey, suds, to have a bowl of The Jolly Lobster's famous lobster chowder and to partake in the many pleasures that awaited them in the rooms upstairs. They also came for the music provided by the beautiful and talented Bobbie Smith, a mean fiddle player who loves to dress in the fashion of the flapper, play bawdy songs on her fiddle and also play with the men upstairs in the brothel. All in all, The Jolly Lobster is a close little family type business; and like all family businesses there's bound to be a few secrets and intrigues; which there are, and in plentiful supply. And given that they're in the booze business during Prohibition they find their little operation having to stay one step ahead of the law and a few more steps ahead of the competition. The Jolly Lobster's chief competitor is a banished crime boss from Montreal, by the name of Pierre Dumont, whose instructions are to take over the booze business in Halifax. Dumont executes his instructions ruthlessly and soon takes over most of the joints in Halifax in short order. The Jolly Lobster and its family are made of tougher stuff though and it takes all of Dumont's cunning, to bring about their downfall. This he attempts to do with the help of a willing traitor or traitors, a Temperance Inspector with a past connection to Dorothy, Rose and Bobbie; and several murders just to make his point. Things begin to look quite grim for the hard working boys and ladies of The Jolly Lobster; it's going to take an army to get rid of Dumont and his gang. Fortunately, there's no shortage of volunteers.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Robin Anderson-Forbes was born and raised on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. After visiting Nova Scotia, he and his husband were so entranced with the province, they moved there along with their cat into a big old house. The Jolly Lobster is Robin's first novel.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Mars Orbit
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am a dedicated fan of "The Jolly Lobster". The reason is simple. The people I met in the book touched me deep down, they remain unforgettable. Stories take us away to dream a little. In "The Jolly Lobster" we are taken away to Halifax, Nova Scotia, early in the 1920's, to a Speakeasy, to meet its owners, its staff, its customers, and its competition during Prohibition. They are memorable, complex, funny, passionate souls. One realizes this is a novel where the characters exist for their own sake, where what they think, and do, and what happens to them moment by moment is of such an importance that as the plot thickens, what we really want to know is more about them even while we are eager to know what is coming next in their lives.
The Jolly Lobster has its secrets. For a start its principal characters are gay. They are perfectly extraordinary ordinary folk who happen to be just like the rest of us. They are going about their lives dealing with the daily chores and expecting the same rewards and pleasures as the rest of the population. They have courage, and they care. And the most extraordinary thing was how much and how quickly I came to care about them. I wanted to head out to the Jolly Lobster on the instant, to listen to the talk in the lounge, to meet the proprietors, to be there. Happily my Time Machine is this book.
The Jolly Lobster has its secrets. For a start its principal characters are gay. They are perfectly extraordinary ordinary folk who happen to be just like the rest of us. They are going about their lives dealing with the daily chores and expecting the same rewards and pleasures as the rest of the population. They have courage, and they care. And the most extraordinary thing was how much and how quickly I came to care about them. I wanted to head out to the Jolly Lobster on the instant, to listen to the talk in the lounge, to meet the proprietors, to be there. Happily my Time Machine is this book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By James Braden
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Loved reading this delightful short story by a new, young author. As a history buff, I'm familiar with prohibition and all it's nonsense in America and Halifax, NS was not much different. Lots of cash to be made for those willing to run afoul of the law. I fell in love with the gay characters! From the lesbian proprietors to their loyal gay lads who helped run the Speakeasy. Their personalities unfolded and made me want to know more about them. And the descriptions of the lads playing in a tub together was really great imaginary. I heartily recommend it as a good read and a bargain.
Jim
Jim
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Recently I did a search of fellow Canadian, gay fiction writers, and was pleased to see there were a goodly number of published authors out there. Among them is Robin Anderson-Forbes, whose debut novel "The Jolly Lobster" caught my eye straight away.
One of the longest `droughts' in Canadian history lasted from about 1900 to 1930, when prohibition parched the land. It started as primarily a women's movement in the 1870s--i.e. the Women's Christian Temperance Union--and achieved nationwide effect by the 1920s. It wasn't a total ban, however, for booze could be sold through the government for, "industrial, scientific, mechanical, artistic and medical uses," and needless to say there was a rather high incidence of sickness during this period--particularly around Christmas time.
It also spawned some lucrative business opportunities for enterprising entrepreneurs who turned their homes, basements, garages, etc. into "speakeasies" (currently known as "after-hours clubs," or "booze cans" ... so I'm told!) And this brings us around to one such speakeasy, "The Jolly Lobster."
I've always had a soft spot for East Coast stories. They have a warm, folksy feel about them, reflecting a down-to-earth culture that still exists in some of the outports today, and which Anderson-Forbes has captured delightfully well in Rose and Dorothy, as well as the twins, Roger and Rupert. In fact all of the `good-guy' characters are likable (to varying degrees), and therefore it is quite easy to invest in them--absolutely crucial in a good-guy v. bad-guy story like this.
Although I'm not an authority on this topic, I think the sub-culture of 1920s speakeasies is fairly poetrayed as well. Certainly there was a remarkable degree of ingenuity that went into circumventing what was an unrealistic, special-interest-sponsored law, and the hardy, self-reliant "Bluenosers" were every bit equal to the task. So I can well imagine that there were quite a few underground establishments like The Jolly Lobster in Halifax in the 1920s.
As for the prostitution, especially male prostitutes, I think may be a bit over the top. On the other hand, I can recall being on a college outing with about 70 fellow-students to Nova Scotia, and we were inadvertently billeted at an out-of-the-way hotel that doubled as a brothel. So anything is possible.
Critically speaking, when I first began reading I thought I had started in the middle of the story. Suddenly there were all these characters--some with connections that went back before the story began--and so it was a bit overwhelming to start. This settled down by the second chapter, but the opening could have benefited by a more gradual introduction.
Pace-wise the story moves along quite smoothly, but there are inconsistencies--"leaps of faith," I call them, because these plot twists either arise abruptly, or too conveniently for a seamless delivery.
However, altogether I found it a charming story with likable characters and a gratifying ending. A very worthy debut. Four stars.
Gerry Burnie
"Nor All Thy Tears: Journey to Big Sky"
One of the longest `droughts' in Canadian history lasted from about 1900 to 1930, when prohibition parched the land. It started as primarily a women's movement in the 1870s--i.e. the Women's Christian Temperance Union--and achieved nationwide effect by the 1920s. It wasn't a total ban, however, for booze could be sold through the government for, "industrial, scientific, mechanical, artistic and medical uses," and needless to say there was a rather high incidence of sickness during this period--particularly around Christmas time.
It also spawned some lucrative business opportunities for enterprising entrepreneurs who turned their homes, basements, garages, etc. into "speakeasies" (currently known as "after-hours clubs," or "booze cans" ... so I'm told!) And this brings us around to one such speakeasy, "The Jolly Lobster."
I've always had a soft spot for East Coast stories. They have a warm, folksy feel about them, reflecting a down-to-earth culture that still exists in some of the outports today, and which Anderson-Forbes has captured delightfully well in Rose and Dorothy, as well as the twins, Roger and Rupert. In fact all of the `good-guy' characters are likable (to varying degrees), and therefore it is quite easy to invest in them--absolutely crucial in a good-guy v. bad-guy story like this.
Although I'm not an authority on this topic, I think the sub-culture of 1920s speakeasies is fairly poetrayed as well. Certainly there was a remarkable degree of ingenuity that went into circumventing what was an unrealistic, special-interest-sponsored law, and the hardy, self-reliant "Bluenosers" were every bit equal to the task. So I can well imagine that there were quite a few underground establishments like The Jolly Lobster in Halifax in the 1920s.
As for the prostitution, especially male prostitutes, I think may be a bit over the top. On the other hand, I can recall being on a college outing with about 70 fellow-students to Nova Scotia, and we were inadvertently billeted at an out-of-the-way hotel that doubled as a brothel. So anything is possible.
Critically speaking, when I first began reading I thought I had started in the middle of the story. Suddenly there were all these characters--some with connections that went back before the story began--and so it was a bit overwhelming to start. This settled down by the second chapter, but the opening could have benefited by a more gradual introduction.
Pace-wise the story moves along quite smoothly, but there are inconsistencies--"leaps of faith," I call them, because these plot twists either arise abruptly, or too conveniently for a seamless delivery.
However, altogether I found it a charming story with likable characters and a gratifying ending. A very worthy debut. Four stars.
Gerry Burnie
"Nor All Thy Tears: Journey to Big Sky"
More About the Author
Robin Anderson-Forbes was born and raised on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. After visiting Nova Scotia, he and his husband were so entranced with the province, they moved there along with their cat into a big old house. The Jolly Lobster is Robin's first novel. In addition to writing, Robin enjoys the theatre. You can visit him at: www.jollylobster.ca or www.andersonforbes.ca
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