Hannah

Gail L. Cox was Librarian, Audio Visual Services, Metro Toronto Reference Library.

Characterization provides the strength of this novel, set in 1948 Newfoundland. Hannah, her husband, son and neighbours are developed lovingly and consequently are greatly appealing.

The story follows Hannah, a midwife, through the days of her life among Newfoundland’s northern seaside communities. A visit to her rich sister in Montreal provides contrast to the harsh Maritime life, emphasizing Hannah’s basic strength, vigorous self-sufficiency and gentle, loving nature. Although she clearly loves her husband and her lame, teenage son, she finds herself attracted to an American doctor. The mutual attraction, although platonic, provides the greatest tension in the story.

Salter’s prose, however, is often descriptively weak. Furthermore, her arch expressions of sexuality seem unnecessarily quaint. Overly didactic phrases frequently interrupt the narrative, such as those used to describe a tubercular patient. Nevertheless, Hannah’s daring, along with the love and kindness of the characters for each other, make compelling reading.