Kit's Law

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

Set in a fictional 1950s Newfoundland outport, this novel recounts the
rather stark teenage years of Kit Pitman. The daughter of a mentally
handicapped mother, Kit is taunted by unforgiving schoolmates, set upon
by a murderer-rapist, threatened with expulsion from the community by a
very un-Christian clergyman, and only minimally befriended by a local
doctor and the son of the clergyman. As many reviewers of her book have
noted, Donna Morrissey is a fine writer. Her characters are fully
rounded, and her style is engaging and varied. The problem with Kit’s
Law resides in its unrelenting bleakness and pessimism. So extreme are
these qualities that the Newfoundland community depicted in the novel is
totally lacking in verisimilitude. Could this promising author not find
a more uplifting story to tell?