First Fiction Fridays: Dancing in a Jar

What:Dancing in a Jar (Breakwater Books, 2016)Who: Adele Poynter is a geologist and economist by training. She was born and raised in Newfoundland but has strong American and Basque family ties. Adele has a B.SC. (Hons) Geology from MUN (1978) and a M.Sc. Resource Economics from the University of Canterbury (1983). She has worked as a petroleum geologist, Commissioner with the Economic Recovery Commission, Consultant in Energy and Export Strategy, Executive Director of the Johnson Geo Centre, and creator of the Fig Fund – a philanthropic initiative.Why you need to read this now: When Adele Poynter discovered at the age of eleven that her father had been married before, a storyline ran through her head that eventually culminated in the pages of her first book, Dancing in a Jar. Based on actual family letters discovered by a relative, she has woven her father’s story of coming to Newfoundland from New York in 1933, with all the changes in culture and environment as experienced by a young couple moving from a large American city to a small outport community in Newfoundland, long before it became a part of Canada.Dancing in a Jar is a love story set amidst the many tragedies and challenges facing Britain’s poorest colony at a time when the Depression was in full swing in the United States and the rest of the world. St. Lawrence was an isolated community on the south coast of Newfoundland, hit hard by a devastating tsunami tidal wave in 1929. St. Lawrence was rebuilding itself and was struggling to eke out an existence on a collapsing cod fishery – as government bordered on bankruptcy and a third of the population was on government assistance. Mining fluorspar offered new hope for employment but brought challenges on every front as the mine owners struggled with the reluctant banks of New York City for financing and the local people struggled with obtaining the daily means to survive. The Catholic Church and an Irish cultural heritage dominate the community life of St. Lawrence as does its relationship with the French island of St. Pierre & Miquelon, only thirty miles away, with which St. Lawrence inevitably developed a smuggling connection. Dancing in a Jar provides us with a glimpse into community life at that time, from the eyes of two outsiders, as reflected in their changing view of isolation and what constitutes a loving and joyous life.Using some of Newfoundland’s most prevalent history as a backdrop – from the great tsunami to populating an unforgiving terrain, from rum-running to resisting confederation – Poynter’s novel perfectly blends a developing love of place with a dedicated love between people. As award-winning writer Lisa Moore, three-time Giller Prize finalist, says “Dancing in a Jar illuminates the urgent love, family connections, and power struggles in a small Newfoundland mining town aching under the strain of difficult times. With spare and yet somehow lush writing, Poynter peels back layers of history to find an enduring love story, carefully rendered and intimately felt.” With a shout-out like that from one of Canada’s most masterful story-tellers, why wouldn’t you want to read this book now?* * *Thanks so much to Rebecca at Breakwater for sharing this exciting new book with us (we see Mother’s Day gifts on the horizon!).