Shipwreck at St. Pierre: Tragedy and Heroism in Sail and Steam

Barbara Fingerote was a research librarian who lived in Toronto.

This book has been shipwrecked by poor editing: typographical and grammatical errors abound. For example, on page 13, line 2: “... faced with the probably [sic] discovery of their crime ...”; and line 14: “... by men from Miquelon men [sic] unearthing the treasure.” You can find more examples of this carelessness on most of the pages in the book.

Another major problem with this book is its lacklustre monotone. Most of the shipwrecks are described in similar fashion: the author might have been better off producing a “book of lists of shipwrecks” for all the life he breathes into these tragedies and near-misses. We should feel sorrow, excitement, relief, something about each of the incidents. The way this book is written, the only emotion we feel is that of frustration: i.e., groan! another typo! No insight is provided into why ships keep going into this area since so many of them run aground. Why does no one require improved safety features to prevent the wrecks from occurring so frequently? Is it because the captains are so egotistical they refuse to believe that their ships would founder there? Or does the geography of the area make it impossible to make it safer? Or? The author does not tell us anything beyond the litany of one ship after another running into trouble.

Even the photographs are dull. This is probably to maintain the tone of the nest of the book! As a matter of fact, one has the impression that had the author not found a few of these photographs in his family’s possession, he would not have written this book.

If you are looking for adventure and excitement on the high seas, this ho-hum book is definitely not for you. You should go sailing: stay away from St. Pierre and its environs, though. It is obvious too many ships do not survive there, although there is no indication as to how many actually do.