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The Grand Change
Publisher: Acorn Press$19.95William Andrews’ first novel examines life in a small PEI communityin the 1940s and 50s as changes, so common in the restof the world, begin to take hold. Using a road as an allegory, heweaves a lyrical tale of simple country people, their strugglesand their joys. The story is told through the eyes of a boy calledJake: he is the witness to life on the Hook Road and the eventsthat change that life forever. The book is in some ways like along poem: the people and the world they inhabit are richlyand meticulously described, and the superb writing takes thereader to a world no one will ever see again.
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Maritime Seafood Chowders, Soups and More
Publisher: Acorn Press$19.95Prince Edward Island Chef Paul Lucas is back with another book that’s chock full of new ways of cooking old fare – and vice versa. With his first book, Prince Edward Island Seafood: Local Fare, Global Flavours, Chef Paul created seafood fusion dishes that were fit for a (future) king and queen. Now he goes back to basics, focusing on soups and sauces that form the basis of most good recipes – which, of course, he includes here. In these 64 pages you’ll find everything you need to know about making good soup stock – beef, pork, fish, veggie – and sauces – white, velouté, glace, fruit purée – then turning them into a soups and stews, risotto and bouillabaisse, which will leave your guests feeling like royalty, too. Paul writes recipes like he’s talking to you in your own kitchen. Whether it’s common-sense stuff, like “There’s no sense in wasting time in producing a fine dice of vegetables if your end product is going to be puréed,” or quips like “When it comes to stocks, size does matter,” Lucas adds as much zest to the writing of recipes as he does to the recipes themselves.
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Ni’n na L’nu The Mi’kmaq of Prince Edward Island
Publisher: Acorn Press$19.95- Winner of APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book Award
- Winner of PEI Book Award for Non-fiction
This lavishly-illustrated book tells a story through words and images that has never before been told, not in any single book. The focus is entirely on the Mi’kmaq of the Island, an island which for thousands of years has been known to the Mi’kmaq and their ancestors as Epekwitk. That name means “cradle on the sea” and no more poetic description of PEI has ever been penned. The story of the PEI Mi’kmaq is one of adaptation and perseverance across countless generations in the face of pervasive change. Today’s environment is far from what it was millennia ago. So too, the economy, society, lifestyle, language and religion of the people has witnessed some dramatic shifts. Nonetheless, despite all the changes, today’s Mi’kmaq feel deeply connected to the Island in its entirety and to their ancestors and the values they still share. This book tells those many stories, and communicates much more. While the book is a stand-alone publication, it is also a companion to a travelling exhibition of the same name.
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Beyond Silence
Publisher: Acorn Press$19.95Beyond Silence: Voices of Child Sexual Abuse is a collection of stories, poems, and images by twelve Island women. In these deeply personal accounts, the women tell about the abuse they suffered as children, the profound effect it has had on their lives, and the reasons why people need to join the fight to stop it. A prevention chapter, written by the group as a whole, focuses on five key areas that need to be addressed in order to end child sexual abuse. These include abusers taking responsibility for their actions and parents taking action to protect their children.Beyond Silence takes a fresh approach to the ongoing work of child sexual abuse prevention by focusing on the knowledge and wisdom of adult survivors. This book has the potential to dramatically change the ways communities respond to child sexual abuse. The stories are raw and real, honest and terrifying. The women dig into the darkness of the past so that others may see the light. They refuse to be silenced and they’re determined to make a difference.
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Shape of Things to Come
Editor: Richard LemmPublisher: Acorn Press$19.95In this new collection, Richard Lemm traces his own journey from the west coast of North America to the east coast of Canada with his first foray into the world of short fiction. His hard-living characters follow their own paths through relationships with parents and siblings, friends and lovers, discovering and sometimes crossing their limits as they try to find their own way in the world. A thirty-something man takes a chance on finding love after he encounters an exotic opera singer on an airplane. Two brothers face their own ghosts as they come to terms with the death of their father. A young man tries to live with his friends’ idea of justice after one of them crosses the line. The stories are decidedly masculine – sometimes apologetically so – but always honest. They resonate long after the pages are closed, offering a fresh voice from one of Atlantic Canada’s finest poets.
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Betrayer
Publisher: Acorn Press$19.95Inspired by the last murder in Prince Edward Island for which capital punishment was exacted- and the theory that a third man was involved in the crime- The Betrayer conjures the fictional life of this “third man” in an intimate psychological profile of a man who, quite literally, gets away with murder. With a deft hand, Hennessey takes us down the darker streets of mid-20th-century Charlottetown, capturing the city’s gritty west end with the brushstrokes of someone who has lived it. He also takes us down into the darkest recesses of the human spirit, into the mind and soul of a murderer.
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Under the Electric Sky
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$19.95Christopher A. Walsh is an award-winning freelance journalist based in Calgary, Alberta. His work has appeared in the Edmonton Journal and the Halifax Chronicle-Herald and on CBC Radio in Nova Scotia. A native of Halifax, he has covered major political stories across the country and spent a few feverish weeks running with the Maritime carnival in towns throughout the region. This is his first book.
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Death Ship of Halifax Harbour
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$19.95“On an uncomfortably muggy morning in early autumn, I found myself standing at the far end of a wide, battered wharf in Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia, looking for a man in knee-high, white rubber boots answering to the name of Captain Red Beard..I’d come in search of a death ship, or at least the historical whispers of a death ship — an elegant old steamer that limped into Halifax harbour during the early hours of April 9, 1866, with more than a thousand Irish and German emigrants squeezed into its cramped, creaking holds. And I’d come in search of what travelled with them and, in fact, inside many of them: Asiatic cholera. And, finally, I’d come in search of the intertwining tales of those lives inexorably changed by history’s worst cholera epidemic, which killed tens of thousands from Mecca to Manhattan to McNab’s Island in the mouth of Halifax harbour.” So begins another strange and surprising adventure of writer Steven Laffoley as he explores historic McNab’s Island in search of Halifax during its time of cholera. As he investigates the rich history of the island and searches for clues to the many dark, cholera-ship tales, Steven confronts the nature of fear and the fear of nature, including fetid marshes, abandoned buildings, a berry-mad bear, a love-starved beaver, a gaggle of naked maidens, and two drunken revolutionaries just looking for some fun. Death Ship of Halifax Harbour is a fascinating and engaging tale of fate, fear and hope.
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Hunting Halifax
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$19.95“I was walking into an air-conditioned Halifax tavern on a hot summer afternoon in search of a dark mystery. I was on the trail of a cold-case murder—a murder case 150 years cold. Clearly, I needed a beer.”
So beings the strange and surprising adventure of Hunting Halifax, the true tale of writer Steven Edwin Laffoley as he investigates the mean streets and narrow alleys of historic Halifax, Nova Scotia, in search of clues to a murder, a mystery and a black hole in history.
In the early hours of September 8, 1853, in the shadow of Citadel Hill, a sailor with a crushed skull lies slumped against the staircase of a notorious tavern on Barrack Street. The death is said to be an accident—a fall from a window—until two tavern prostitutes tell Nova Scotia’s famous son, Joseph Howe, that it was murder.
Prepared to do what it takes to find justice for the murdered sailor, the author sleeps in old graveyards, drinks in rough taverns, concerses in trendy coffee shops, pokes about staid Province House, ponders Victorian Age philosophy, and somehow just manages to avoid arrest. Humorous and engaging, Hunting Halifax is an entertaining tale of history, mystery and murder.
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Nova Scotia Place Names
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Washabuck is not a place to launder money; Ecum Secum is not a children’s game; Joggins has nothing to do with anything athletic.
They are just some of the 1,421 Nova Scotia place names whose origins, where they are known, are explained in this book. The history of each name is succinctly chronicled with an emphasis on events past and current that are historically significant, offbeat, or humorous. This quirky and informative guide also contains a treasure trove of the province’s little-known facts and occurrences and 95 mini-biographies of famous, infamous, and not-so-famous-but-still-very-interesting Nova Scotians, folks who achieved something outstandingly positive, or negative, during their lifetimes.
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Cape Breton Facts and Folklore
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Cape Breton is famous the world over for its senic trails, Celtic music and traditions, strong Mi’kmaq community, and unique dialects. Called Unamakikia by the Mi’kmaq, Ile Royale by the French, and Eilean Cheap Breatainn in Scottish Gaelic, the island of Cape Breton is a colourful blend of cultures and history. After the slow decline of the coal and steel industries following World War Two, Cape Breton became a major tourist locale, with such draws as Fortress Louisbourg, the largest eighteenth-century restored fortress in North America and a national historic site; the Cape Breton Highlands, with stunning views and winds that can reach up to 220 kilometres an hour; and the Cabot Trail scenic drive, which attracts thousands of people every autumn to take in the stunning views and foliage.
Cape Breton Facts and Folklore is full of fun and interesting facts about the people, places, and events that shaped this fascnating island. Includes photos of some of the island’s prominent places and personalities.
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Buildings of Old Lunenburg
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95With houses in close proximity to one another and narrow streets running parallel to the harbour, Lunenburg is one of the finest examples of eighteenth-century British colonial town planning. But the architecture itself has a flair and uniqueness that belie its early beginnings. Here, low-profile Cape Cods suggest a New England influence; stately Georgian-style homes share streetscapes with pointed dormers, the hallmark of Gothic revival, as well as with the ubiquitous and functional Lunenburg Bump, which serves as a storm porch and provides an elevated view of the harbour; fanciful turnof-thecentury homes–distinguished by large bay windows, elaborate mouldings, expansive verandahs, and corner turrets–overlook each other on hilly streets, while brightly coloured waterfront buildings speak of a long association with seafaring traditions.
Indeed, it is Lunenburg’s proximity to the sea–and the prosperity generated by shipbuilding and the fishery–that have shaped the character of its fine residences, public and commercial buildings, and have allowed the development of a unique regional architectural style that has made the town a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In this collaboration, photographer Terry James and conservation planner Bill Plaskett present a visual and interpretive documentary on this extraordinary town that both records its essential architectural forms and captures the historic sweep of its measured and adaptive development.
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Memoirs of a Cape Breton Doctor
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Dr. C. Lamont MacMillan had no idea of the life that awaited him when he began his medical practice in Baddeck, Cape Breton, in 1928. At that time it was more common for doctors to travel to their patients. As a result, navigating the rural landscape was often more difficult for these doctors than providing diagnoses.
In Memoirs of a Cape Breton Doctor, MacMillan relates over forty years of his memories and experiences as a travelling physician with warmth, wit, and a genuine love for the life he lived. He shares stories about his patients, his family, the beloved horses that carried him from home to home, the Maritimes’ fickle weather, and the people that helped him through it.
The stories span over a century, and highlight MacMillan’s own experiences as well as the recollections of the people he cared for until his retirement from medical practice. Entertaining and heartwarming, Memoirs of a Cape Breton Doctor is a classic of the genre.
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Saint John Curiosities
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Saint John Curiosities is a collection of short and interesting glimpses of the city’s people, places, and events from its very beginning to the present day. Author and well-known storyteller David Goss brings together little-known, fascinating findings that he has uncovered during forty years of research, drawing stories from newspaper articles, maps, and museum and library archives.
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Historic Glace Bay
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95**Updated in 2014**
The history of Glace Bay is intimately linked with the development of its coal mines. In this historic series book, Carole MacDonald examines coal as the fuel used to build and maintain Glace Bay and its inhabitants. Poor working conditions, irregular employment, and companies set on increasing their profits at the expense of the miners are all documented. Historic Glace Bay also covers the lives of notable residents, housing, hospitals, churches, schools, transportation, sports, and the community’s contribution to the arts.
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It Happened in New Brunswick
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95It Happened in New Brunswick features more than fifty stories about New Brunswick heroes and oddballs, funny happenings and tragic moments, by the province’s favourite storyteller, David Goss.
The stories span New Brunswick’s history and geography, bringing to light unknown characters and events, from the record-breaking bowlers of Saint John to the McAdam pharmacist who invented his own miracle flu medicine, and from Alex Haley’s surprise sojourn in Dalhousie to Campobello Island’s remarkable hermit. The book is divided into six thematic sections, including one of Acadian stories told in English, plus a section of amusing clippings and tidbits collected from old New Brunswick newspapers and archives. -
Historic Town of Pictou
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Monica Graham is a long-time resident of Pictou County and is a freelance journalist and photographer whose work has been published in many newspapers and magazines including The Chronicle Herald, Pictou Advocate, and Canadian Living. She is the author of Pictou County.
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Inspired Halifax
Artist: Dusan KadlecPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Born in 1942 in what is now the Czech Republic, Dusan Kadlec received his Masters Degree in Fine Arts from the prestigious Academy of Fine Arts in Prague in 1967. Shortly afterward, 1968, he immigrated to Canada and settled in Nova Scotia where he now works and makes his home. Internationally recognized for his highly detailed portrayals of important historical events, as well as painting our seafaring and urban past, Dusan Kadlec is generally regarded as Canada’s foremost historical and marine artist.
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Land of the Loyalists
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95The Loyalist ascendancy in the Maritimes was short-lived but pervasive. Included here are the buildings, the institutions and the culture that they left behind.
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Affairs With Old Houses
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95This beautifully illustrated book profiles the architectural heritage of Nova Scotia and describes the personal and loving efforts of a number of residents to restore these fabulous buildings.
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Historic Yarmouth
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Photography, perhaps more than any other medium, provides the most immediate and evocative window to our past. In Historic Yarmouth the unique historical features of this remarkable Nova Scotia town and surrounds are wonderfully presented in photographs taken between the mid-1800s and the early 14940s by photographers who lived and worked in the town itself.
Included here are streetscapes from Yarmouth and it country’s villages; scenes of special events; photographs of ships that made Yarmouth famous during the age of sail; changing modes of transportation; houses and buildings in which local folks lived and worked; and, of course, photographs of the townspeople themselves.
All the photographs presented here, and thousands more, are apart of the Yarmouth’s extraordinary past. This book is a tribute to the people of Yarmouth whose foresight and support have contributed so much posterity.
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Story of the Chestnut Canoe
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95The Chestnut Canoe Company began in Fredericton, New Brunswick, in 1897 and its impact was unequaled on the development of recreational canoeing and the canoe itself. Photos and images from the famed catalogues illustrate this intriguing Maritime story.
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All Afire! Ore Miners of Newfoundland and Labrador
Publisher: John Kitchen$19.95The book’s title – ‘All Afire!’ was the cry shouted when miners were ready to light their fuses for a blast, warning other workers to seek shelter. This is a story about the life of a miner, focusing on Buchans, with comparisons to other Newfoundland and Labrador mining communities. It explains how a miner goes about the various mining jobs, from mucking ore, to drilling, to being a shift-boss, and the many other jobs in between. It also discusses the hazards and dangers associated with mining – the falls of ground, the dust, the gas, moving machinery, dynamite, etc.
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Logging in New Brunswick, Lumber, Mills & River Drives
Publisher: Maritime Lines$19.95Lumber was and is New Brunswick’s largest inustry and throughout the 19th century the province largely remained a timber colony dependent on its vast forests for most of its revenue. And for 150 years, New Brunswikcers entered the wilderness each fall, lived in primitive lumber camps while cutting, skidding, yarding, and hauling logs to the riverbanks and waited for spring break-up. This Is the story of a great industry, of lumberjacks, the teamsters, scalers, raftsmen, shantyboys, swampers, and rossers. From the wangan, tote road, twitching horse, sacking, due bills, and the corporation drive, the reader is taken inside the lumber world of yesterday. Over 140 historical photographs with extensive captions reveal forgotten logging practices, unique details of river drives, and how the early sawmills were built and organized.
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Railways Of New Brunswick
Publisher: Maritime Lines$19.95Dan Soucoup is the author of numerous books on New Brunswick and the Maritimes including Know New
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Historic Houses of Prince Edward Island
Publisher: SSP Publications$19.95The first of its kind, this fully illustrated book examines the evolution of domestic architecture on Prince Edward Island up until the advent of WWI. It describes 82 of the most significant heritage houses on the Island and includes the exquisite black and white and colour photography of Lionel Stevenson, floor plans of selected buildings and interesting aerial photographs of some of these houses in their rural context. Author Scott Smith has won several awards and is himself an historian, publisher and architect.
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Strangers in the Land The Ukrainian Presence in Cape Breton
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$19.95First published in 1986, Strangers in the Land is a carefully researched telling of stories of Cape Breton’s Ukrainians, written by a son of the community, John Huk. Working tirelessly in archives, he spent countless hours combing through municipal and steel company records, collecting press clippings and other relevant papers as well as memorabilia, interviewing community members about their family histories, and working with his family to put together a story of a century of Ukrainian life in Cape Breton. Huk produced a book that stands as a valuable historical document and, in the process, also amassed a wealth of artifacts and documentation now forming the Huk fonds at the archives of the Beaton Institute at Cape Breton University-providing an invaluable source of data for a new generation of researchers. It is the only history of Ukrainian experiences in Cape Breton published to date; all the more impressive is that Huk gathered the information and published the book almost entirely on his own as a self-taught community ethnographer and historian. His work has also inspired more recent research focusing on Canadians of Ukrainian descent, especially their music, dance and the Holy Ghost Ukrainian Parish in Sydney, Nova Scotia. This congregation celebrates the 100th anniversary in 2012. Now with a new introduction by Marcia Ostashewski , PhD, and new appendices, Strangers in the Land is a celebration of the traditions and cultural gifts of Ukrainians in Cape Breton and their contribution to Canadian history.
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Cape Breton Wonders
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$19.95Did you ever wonder why… your mother re-washed the wash?Did you ever wonder why… the lighthouse lights, or why the miners risked their lives?
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Honour Roll
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$19.95The Nova Scotia Highland Brigade sailed on the SS Olympic, from Halifax on October 12, 1916, and played a significant role in the victories of World War I, including the now-infamous Vimy Ridge.In time for the 90th anniversary of the battle for Vimy, historian James MacDonald has catalogued information about members of the Highland Brigade (85th, 185th, 193rd, 219th Battalions) killed or mortally wounded in action.The Honour Roll collates, for the first time in a single publication, the name, date of birth, family origin, vocation, enlistment details, date and where they were killed in action and final resting place and of each member. Fifteen battle maps showing troop movements are included, along with a description of Commonwealth war graves where the soldiers are buried.