Sylvanus Now

R. Gordon Moyles is professor emeritus of English at the University of
Alberta. He is co-author of Imperial Dreams and Colonial Realities:
British Views of Canada, 1880–1914, author of The Salvation Army and
the Public, and editor of “Improved by Cult

“Always be markets for salt fish,” says the hopelessly optimistic
Sylvanus Now—and only slowly, when the fresh-fish plants multiply,
when the trawlers scrape the sea bottom bare, and when his jigger comes
up empty, does this Newfoundland romantic face the sad but inevitable
truth: the inshore fishery is no more. Only his love of the sea, the
land, and his life partner, Adelaide, remains intact.

In this quintessentially Newfoundland novel, Donna Morrissey (perhaps
the best regional writer in Canada) celebrates the triumph of love over
the many harsh realities of life in a remote outport in the 1950s:
Adelaide’s hatred of outport life with its fish flakes and family
feuds, Sylvanus’s own slow recognition of the demise of his way of
life, the government’s refusal to face reality (except by seeking to
resettle the fishers), and so much heartbreaking more. In meticulous
detail and with amazing authenticity, Morrissey depicts Newfoundland
outport life, its fishers’ dreams, the sea-bond that holds them, and
the loves that sustain them. Her physical and emotional landscapes, and
her cultural context, are utterly convincing; her characters, from rough
unsophisticates to natural philosophers, are genuine people; and her
control of dialect is impeccable.

This novel is essential reading, both for its literary value and as one
of the most accurate insights into the Newfoundland temperament.