Set in Newfoundland in 1914 and centres around 20 year old Roan, who has been living in an orphanage in Boston.
A deathbed confession leads him to ending up on the SS Newfoundland and it’s deadly journey to the ice fields.
It’s both beautiful and tragic and I was emotionally invested in Roan.
His journey for identity and truth was heartbreaking.
A well researched historical novel based on true events.
Thanks @donnamorrissey.writer @penguinuk and @netgalley for the eARC

The events of the sealing ship Newfoundland in 1914 are etched in many Newfoundlanders' minds. While it's a well known tragedy in that province, it's less so in the rest of Canada, and practically unknown outside the country. Morrissey, a writer of Newfoundland historical fiction, brings the tragic events of those horrific hours to heartbreaking life. Roan is a young man searching for the story of his birth, having thought himself an orphan for his entire life; this quest brings him aboard the Newfoundland and its deadly voyage.

I could not put this novel down. I’ve always thought that Morrissey is a gifted writer, but Rage the Night surpassed her earlier works. Roan knows nothing about his parentage. He’s lived in northern Newfoundland in Doctor Grenfell’s settlement since he was 4. Grenfell raised him as if he was his son. On her deathbed, the old nurse revealed a clue as to his background. Roan sets out across Newfoundland to discover the truth. Set in the 1800’s, he signs on to a sealing vessel and becomes stranded on the ice with his shipmates. As the saying goes, my heart was in my mouth.

Donna Morrissey’s Rage the Night was a remarkable book! Set against the true events of the SS Newfoundland’s tragic journey in 1914, we followed Roan on his journey for truth and identity. With historical events guiding some of the story, there were some aspects of plot that could be anticipated, but this book was so much more than I could have ever expected.

From the beginning, the story gripped me as we meet a nameless, faceless character uncovering a hidden grave. As the first few pages progress, we learned of the death-bed confession that propelled our main character, Roan, forward. An orphan, the shocking truth of his origin compelled him to leave the life he had been prepared for and set off to find the truth of his nature.

The Canadian Maritime provinces were both the most beautiful and most devastating landscapes. Setting this in the deep of winter, just on the doorsteps of spring, the people of the Atlantic provinces would be waiting patiently for the arctic ices to thaw to bring food and warmth back into their homes.

On his journey, Roan followed the leads of his past onto a sealing boat where the harshest conditions possible awaited him. This was where the fictional crossed with tragic reality as we endured the crew’s brutal interaction with the frigid climate. What followed was the rawest and most heartbreaking depiction of the crew, family by trade or blood, desperately trying to save themselves and each other. The storm dissolved any need for secret keeping, and ultimately brought Roan the truth he was seeking. I felt every single emotion that Morrissey conveyed through each character: the fear, the pain, the complete devastation and hopelessness. It was all encompassing and I devoured every line, needing with all of my heart for the crew, MY crew at this point, to be delivered safely to the end of the night.

The ending of the story was as beautiful as the journey to get there was horrific. It was a perfect parallel to the monstrosity of the storm being followed by the calm of a bright new day. Roan ended the story with everything I had hoped for him: family, identity and purpose. With all of these tools in hand, I ended the book satisfied that he would build the life he deserved and tell the stories of those who no longer could.

Wow. Just wow!

I’ve read and loved all of Donna Morrissey’s novels. She is one of my favourite Canadian authors, and this, her latest book, only adds to my regard for her writing.

It is 1914 in Newfoundland. Twenty-year-old Roan is an orphan who has been raised and educated by Dr. Wilfred Grenfell, the renowned Newfoundland medical missionary. A nurse’s deathbed confession has Roan discovering that his father may still be alive, so he sets out to discover the identity of that father and the truth behind his mother’s death. He travels by dog sled from St. Anthony to Deer Lake and then takes a train to St. John’s. Believing he has found his father, he follows him onto the SS Newfoundland, a ship heading to the sealing grounds for the spring hunt.

I didn’t know about the history of the Newfoundland, one of the worse marine disasters in Newfoundland history, but as soon as Roan joins the sealers on the ship, I suspected there would be a tragedy. I’ve read enough about the seal hunt to know of its dangers. The conditions are not favourable as the Newfoundland keeps getting trapped in ice so the captain and the sealers are more and more desperate to find seals; the decision to have the men walk for hours to reach a herd just ramps up the suspense.

The seal hunt is controversial, but it has been part of Newfoundland’s culture for generations. Regardless of one’s position on the hunt, a reader will feel empathy for the sealers. For them, the hunt means making some money to feed themselves and their families. The living conditions on the ship are miserable; food is very basic and there’s not much of it. Once the hunt begins, the dangers increase. The men need to earn money and it is desperation that drives the men onto shifting ice.

I love novels with a dynamic character and this one has Roan. At the beginning, Roan loves solitude: “Quiet. He loved quiet. Loved how it settled around him without shadow.” He even tells a young woman he encounters that “We are best alone, Ila, we are best alone” and believes that “She will learn, as he has, not to fear aloneness. She will learn that it is in solitude where one finds one’s courage.” As a young boy, Roan was sent to a boarding school in Boston where he was an outcast because he was considered an orphan from the backwoods, but on the ship he is accepted by the men and bonds with them. He learns that “our pathways through life are equally shaped by the others who sail with us” and realizes that he gathers courage “from living these past days among a brotherhood that breeds such courage out of misery that all things seem possible.”

Roan has other lessons to learn as well: patience and humility. The ship’s captain, for instance, is described as proud and one of the sealers says “’Men does strange things when they got that drivin ‘em.’” Roan comes to recognize “his own naked pride” and acknowledges the presence of “his old pal vanity.” Watching the sealers help and support each other, he becomes more compassionate and realizes the truth of Dr. Grenfell’s words that “What we give to others is the rent we pay for our room on this earth.” Roan does uncover the truth of his birth, but it’s the other lessons that more profoundly affect his behaviour.

Characterization in the novel is excellent. Characters are flawed like real human beings: keeping secrets, telling lies to themselves and others, and falling subject to misunderstandings. Though there are few women, they are memorable. Ila, though the same age as Roan, seems so much more mature, probably because of her life experiences. But the most authentic for me are the sealers. They speak in distinctive Newfoundland accents which I love, but it’s their supportive fellowship, resilience, and humour that stand out. Even when miserable, they break out into song to bolster morale. They watch out for and help each other. They share equally what little they have, unlike captains who keep the best food for himself and unlike Roan who in the past succumbed to the “greed of hunger.”

There is so much to recommend this novel: a suspenseful plot, authentic characters, lots of local colour, lyrical descriptions, and thematic depth – all things I’ve found in all of Donna Morrissey’s novels.

Note: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Rage the Night is classic Donna Morrissey, the kind of story that fans expect from her and will devour. Rage the Night is set in Newfoundland, in 1914, centered around 20-year-old Roan. Roan was orphaned and knows nothing about who he is or where he comes from. He lives at the orphanage, has high quality schooling in Boston and is expected to follow in his benefactor’s footsteps and become a rural doctor to the sick and poor. The story begins with a deathbed confession, that sets him on a journey to find out who he is and leads to him ending up on the Newfoundland, an old and unsuited for the conditions ship that heads out on the ice fields to hunt seals. He is following members of his “family” even though he has not yet put together all the pieces. The tragedy of the Newfoundland sealing ship is a true one and was a very devastating part of Canadian history to explore than I hadn’t really known about before.

Roan grows as a person and takes strides to find out answers about himself that he was missing. He chases rumours and puts up with secrecy trying to find out if he belongs anywhere or if he can grow to love what he is. It is both beautiful and tragic and often the story physically left me feeling cold, imagining myself stuck on an ice field. There are some wonderful by’s, imaginative character description and a brotherhood that seeps off the pages. “Living these days among a brotherhood that breeds such courage out of misery that things seem possible.”

This is a novel that breathes empathy, imagining yourself in the shoes of these men. Morrissey is a master of the dramatic mood and setting the scene. Seal hunting was a way out of poverty, and you can feel that not many people had much of a choice. The greed of the other world is there, and yes, inspires rage. This novel gave me a great view of Newfoundland in the 1910s in a way I hadn’t imagined.

This novel would appeal to those who like historical Canadian events, Newfoundland tales, or just beautiful writing that hits you to your core. These are some horrific events, coming from greed, miscommunication and poverty that make you want to look away, but need to be looked at. In many ways this novel can connect to today, the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. When will things ever change?

Delighted to include this title in the August edition of Novel Encounters, my column highlighting the month’s most anticipated fiction for the Books section of Zoomer, Canada’s national culture magazine. (see column and mini-review at link)

4.5 Stars. Rage the Night is the first book I have read by Donna Morrissey. She is the author of six national bestselling novels that have won literary awards. I wish to thank NetGalley and Random House Canada for an advance copy of this moving and memorable book.
This is not an easy book to read. It is powerful and sensitively written, told with poignancy, pathos, and gut-wrenching emotion. A historic tragedy is vividly described with heartbreaking scenes. Characters are remarkably well-drawn and feel authentic to the time and place. It takes a while to settle into the flow of dialogue consisting of unique Newfoundland lingo, words and expressions of the sealers. This adds to the believability of the characters.

Roan, age 20, has always considered himself an orphan without a last family name. For a short time, his early years were impoverished. He was later taken into the care of Dr. Grenfell, who raised him in comfort and provided for his education, even college in Boston. (Dr. Grenfell is a real and renowned Newfoundland doctor and medical missionary who travelled by boat to isolated outpost settlements where people had never seen a doctor.) In the story, Roan helps the doctor care for patients. Dr. Grenfell hopes that Roan will eventually become a doctor and practice alongside him.

A deathbed confession by an elderly nurse causes Roan to seek out secrets surrounding his origins and identity. In his search for the truth surrounding his birth, he encounters deliberate lies, coverups, and tales based on misunderstandings. This leads him into tragedy and eventually the truth in a tangled history. He says goodbye to Dr. Grenfell and departs with a few clues and some misdirections about his origins. He travelled from the Northern tip of Newfoundland in 1914. He has always been introverted and keeps himself remote from personal relationships. His journey takes him to a shack where a young woman, Ila, struggles to stay warm and fed. She is caring for her dying mother and refuses to leave her. He urges her to leave and go to his vacant cabin or a church where she will find shelter and adequate food. She refuses to leave, and Roan provides her with supplies before heading to his next stop, a home he believes holds the information he needs.

He learns little but is asked to look after their son's safety, a young man defying his parents by leaving for the seal hunt. This young man is following his uncle, Ashur Genge, who has gone ahead for passage to the hunt. Roan has reason to believe that man may be his father. He has always known his mother died. Did she die when he was born, or was she deliberately killed? He aims to find out by going to St. John's and finding a passage to the seal hunt. Perhaps he will learn the mystery of the identity of his father and the truth about his mother's death.

Roan secures passage on a rickety old ship heading to the seal hunt. This is the only lucrative means for their passengers to provide a living for their families. The ship is the historic SS Newfoundland and captained by its real-life captain. Roan has placed himself in one of the worst sea disasters in Newfoundland's history. The ship had no means of communication.

The captain ignored signs of an upcoming storm when the Newfoundland got jammed in ice. The father of their captain headed a ship, the Stephano, seven miles away from the stranded SS Newfoundland. They had been ordered to walk to the Stephano, where they would be fed and stay the night. They walked in unbearable weather for almost five hours. After a quick feed of tea and hard bread, they were ordered off the Stephano and to return to the ice-logged ship, the SS Newfoundland. The captain was unaware of how much distant their boat was.

For two days, 132 sealers are stranded on ice floes in unsuitable clothing, without adequate food and shelter, in a blizzard and white-out conditions, unable to find their ship. Seventy-eight of the stranded and struggling men froze to death. Many of the survivors lost limbs due to frostbite. During the same storm, another sealing vessel, the SS Southern Cross, sank, killing all 173 men on board.

Roan was walking to stay alive with the men dropping and dying around him. He had bonded and developed friendships with many. He had managed to learn some information from Ashur Genge. The man denied being Roan's father and told him a story about his wild and disgraced mother and the identity of the man he believed was Roan's father. Roan is rescued along with 1/3 of the other desperate survivors. His attempt to solve the mystery during the disaster was mostly futile. Still, after leaving his new friends who survived, he can put clues together and is on the way to becoming a better, more contented person.

This was an intense, emotional and informative story of a way of life in the not-too-distant past. The date of publication is August 29.