Before the Flood

Bob Forsey is the education officer at the Newfoundland Museum in St.
John’s.

Before the Flood is a compelling, sensitive, and insightful story about
the coming of age of a young man in a town (Woodstock, New Brunswick)
facing destruction by the flood waters of a dam built to enable people
to “live better electrically.”

Samuel MacFarlane, 16, reveals his “sepia dreams” as he struggles
with anxieties about the coming flood and insecurities about his pale
complexion and his dealings with the opposite sex. Samuel’s friends
and neighbors—including his pal Vergil, who has no fears; his barber
Horace, who acts on his dreams; and Miss Jonah, an albino who welcomes
both people and phantoms to her Nighthawk Cafe—are eccentrics in a
town of conformists.

Samuel’s canoe trip to Fredericton with his friends Vergil and Andrew
is clearly more than just a bid to be the last to canoe the Saint John
River before the flood. It is also an attempt to overcome their fears,
an accomplishment that reveals the journey to be more important than the
destination. Before the Flood also illustrates how a town’s priceless
heritage can be destroyed by business and political interests in the
name of creating a better, and more profitable, tomorrow.