4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
a great book but beware, 2005-08-06
This is a truly wonderful book. Bernice Morgan puts you right in the middle of the drama of early Newfoundland. However do not buy Random Passage. It is the same book. I found out the hard way.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
This Book is WONDERFUL, 2003-08-20
My husband is from Newfoundland and I still dont know much about this island off of Canada. We currently live in Ontario.Then the mini-series came out and WOW I was blown away..Ok I'm pretty sure this is fiction but whose to say that it didnt really happen or couldve happened.
I really bonded with the character Mary Bundle the most. Her life was harsh but she never ever let it break her. She was/is what this country needs more of..strong resiliant women!!
I highly recommend everyone read this book!!!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Exceptional tale of a family , survival and love....., 2002-09-17
Cape Random is a brilliant novel that tells the story of an 1800's English working class family, the Andrews. They are forced to flee from their home in order to escape being imprisoned or hung. The Andrews wind up seeking passage to a land far away in the hold of a ship where pigs are normally held. The harsh reality of their situation does not improve when they are taken from the ship.
They are put ashore in Cape Random a tiny settlement on the bleak coast of Newfoundland with no supplies, no viable skills and little hope of surviving the impending winter season.
The artistic writing of Bernice Morgan paints a vivid picture of what the family sees as they arrive and the emotional state of a desperate and scared family. This is a tale of what people can manage to do in order to survive. The conditions and situations faced draw the reader into the tale and pull at you emotionally, as you watch those you know struggling just to barely stay alive.
The relationships between the residents of Cape Random are clear and complex and as time passes and the community expands with children the complexity also expands.
This is an amazing book that deals with love, survival, faith, hope and the tough challenges imposed by mother nature, as well as the challenges that human nature puts forth.
This is an exceptional and thought provoking book.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Great read!, 2002-07-17
In addition to the great plot and characterization mentioned by other reviewers, I found Morgan's writing style graceful. That's the first word that come's to mind when I think of this book. Her treatment of characters with questionable(?) motives and behavior is objective; their redeeming qualities are also presented. She reveals the beauty of each person and their role in an almost incestuous community. Her careful treatment of her characters and the skills they build to survive in the weather, community, various types of deprivation is as graceful as her prose.