NEED TO READ

We had a very special guest join our last ‘Guide’s Book Guild Gathering’ – three of them in fact. Each of whom exhibited a strong connection to this month’s reading selection, Kevin Major’s novel, ‘Found Far and Wide’. A factional recount of a Newfoundlanders role in WW1 history – most particularly, the Gallipoli campaign where no amount of training and preparation could compare to the natural acclimatization our boys exhibited during that especially woeful winter.

Though our local memorials suggest the Newfoundlanders endured great hardships on that front, I remind everyone that the allied forces lost 115,000 men while we sacrificed only 40 of our troops to Turkey; despite the fact that Newfoundlanders were often selected for every special ops unit, including tactical sniper positions. The Newfoundlanders were a hardy battalion, considered so capable they were chosen to take up the rear guard while our belaboured brothers of Britain were evacuated from the beaches of the Dardanelles.

 

“… this month’s reading selection…”

 

Our first guest was a young child whose Grandmother lives next door to our studio in St. John’s. We often speak with his father on our morning walks and when the topic for this week’s book club was mentioned, he revealed that our young friend is the great, great, grandson of Abe Mullet, who would have featured prominently in these passages.

 

Known locally as the ‘Gentle Giant’, Abe’s grandfather was a monster of a man who enlisted for duty at the tender age of 13, shipping overseas as one of the first 500 soldiers to represent God, King, and country in the fall of 1914. He survived every engagement, fought in every campaign throughout the entirety of WW1, then reenlisted for WW2 where he stormed the beach of Normandy on D-Day. Quite the namesake and a near perfect reminder of the important role Newfoundland assumed in these efforts.

Our second guest is a dear friend whose face was recently cast in bronze for the ‘100 Faces’ sculpture commissioned for Victoria Park in the city’s west end. This is a memorial to First World War veterans who returned to Newfoundland, started families, and continued their family’s lineage. Her Grandfather would have also played a significant role in this story.

Our final guest was visiting from the coast of Labrador, hailing from the same town as one of the novel’s main characters. She plays the guitar and sang a beautiful rendition of ‘The Lure of the Labrador’; A heartwarming piece that quieted our usually rambunctious crowd and set the tone for the ensuing discussion.

 

Though our guests were invited to add an extra “quality” to our meeting, they became more than intricate to our discussion when several of our guides suggested that the book seemed “Contrived”. A position they shared with many online readers who offered similar criticism on various website reviews. Someone even thought the novel read like ‘Forest Gump’ – with characters bumbling through all the major events that would have defined this period in Newfoundland’s history.

Thankfully, our guest’s presence reminded us of the highly circumstantial and seemingly “contrived’ stories we experience every day in Newfoundland. Goodness knows Abe Mullet’s story is as fantastical as anything a Hollywood studio could devise.

Our friend from Labrador sings for our tour groups when we stay at the ‘Northern Light Inn’ in L’Anse au Claire. She flew to St. John’s on a whim that morning and unbeknownst to us, was staying with our ‘100 Faces’ friend who she’d met at a song writing symposium they attended last fall. A most welcome surprise that supports one of our Mother’s favorite adages;

“The rest of the world might be separated by 6 degrees – but Newfoundlanders are only three exchanges of conversation from knowing every soul on the planet!”

Contrived? Given the amount of “beer parlour talk” we enjoy in Newfoundland, “imbibed” might be a better descriptor!