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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Some
Quoyle's wife's fatal accident; references to child abuse in his background
Language
Some
Strong language; authentic working-class Newfoundland dialect
Sexual Content
Some
Adult relationships; references to Quoyle's exploitative marriage
Substance Use
Barely any
Social drinking
Emotional Intensity
A lot
Explores trauma, childhood abuse, self-worth, and the slow possibility of a second chance
What this book is about
Quoyle, a hapless newspaper reporter, moves to his ancestral home on the Newfoundland coast after his faithless wife is killed in an accident. Taking a job writing the shipping news for the local paper, he slowly rebuilds himself — along with his two daughters — in a wild, unforgiving landscape. Proulx's Pulitzer Prize winner is dark, funny, and deeply healing.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Childhood sexual abuse in backstory
A character's manipulative and faithless marriage
Child endangerment and abuse by the mother
Reader Verification
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