After the Angel Mill at Cormorant Books

After the Angel Mill

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Synopsis

This linked collection chronicles four generations of women in a Cape Breton family, women who represent the unsung multitude who have struggled through the years to make homes and keep families clothed and fed, while the men went down into the mines. The stories lay bare the grief and disappointments — as well as the stoical sense of humour — of working-class women living in an economically-deprived but fiercely cohesive community. Always these characters long for something better, their hopes and dreams tempered with grim acceptance, and a bred-in-the-bone will to survive.

Reviews

"For Bruneau's women, the accepted metaphor for victory is escape, but their authentic victories are brief moments when joy or love illuminates the darkness of their lives like a spark in a caol mine - sometimes with comparably explosive results. These carefully-crafted, interlinked stories make an impressive collection." - Silver Donald Cameron

"One of [Cormorant's] gems this year is After the Angel Mill, a collection of linked short stories that is as hard to get out of your head as a haunting blues song ... Cormorant has done it again with this collection." - The Star Phoenix

"A wonderful debut, After the Angel Mill is a moving tribute to those whose lives remain untold." - Atlantic Books Today

"The pleasure of this collection is in its evocation of a vibrant, close-knit community of people whose lives are at once both ordinary and extraordinary." - The New Brunswick Reader

Other Titles By This Author

Glass Voices

Berth

Depth Rapture

Purple for Sky