Saltsea A Novel
by David Helwig
"Birdsong, wind: here by the ocean every noise was surrounded by silence that reached all the way to the stars. Monica studied the white shingled building above the slope of green lawn, deep bays rising two storeys on each side of the front door and the windowed porch. You felt the big rambling construction must have a memory, old thoughts. Listen, I am the voice of what once was. I am as real as the beating of your hungry heart. A flash of sun blinded her, a pirouette of the dazzling god."
So begins David Helwig's Saltsea. A lovely, meditative novel, a story about memory, and about how what once was continues to affect what is and what will be. It is the story of a place, of the family that used to own it, and the people who have been its caretakers. Saltsea, a hotel on the shores of Prince Edward Island, where people come for a brief time, their lives intersecting in intimate and unforeseen ways. The characters of Saltsea are finely drawn, with humour, love and compassion. Sadness and even tragedy are a constant here, but Helwig handles it all humanely, without sentimentality, and with the control of a writer at the height of his powers. Saltsea, befitting a novel so concern with memory, is not something you will soon forget.
So begins David Helwig's Saltsea. A lovely, meditative novel, a story about memory, and about how what once was continues to affect what is and what will be. It is the story of a place, of the family that used to own it, and the people who have been its caretakers. Saltsea, a hotel on the shores of Prince Edward Island, where people come for a brief time, their lives intersecting in intimate and unforeseen ways. The characters of Saltsea are finely drawn, with humour, love and compassion. Sadness and even tragedy are a constant here, but Helwig handles it all humanely, without sentimentality, and with the control of a writer at the height of his powers. Saltsea, befitting a novel so concern with memory, is not something you will soon forget.
FictionHumorousLiteraryPsychologicalTravelCanada
RELEASED2006
PUBLISHERBiblioasis
LENGTH214
LANGUAGEEN
David Helwig, CM, a Canadian editor, essayist, memoirist, novelist, poet, short story writer and translator, was born and spent his early childhood years in Toronto, Ontario. When he was ten years old, his family moved to Niagara-on-the-Lake, where his father ran an antiques business. He received a Bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto in 1960 and two years later, a Masters degree from the University of Liverpool. After graduating, he returned to Canada to teach at Queen's University in Kingston. His first book, a collection of poems called <i>Figures in a Landscape</i>, was published in 1968 with Oberon Press. In 1992 he moved to Montreal, then after four years there, to Belfast, Prince Edward Island. In 2007, he received the Matt Cohen Award from the Writers' Trust of Canada in honour of his lifetime contribution to Canadian literature. He was appointed Prince Edward Island's third Poet Laureate in 2008 and on July 1, 2009 was named a Member of the Order of Canada. Helwig published nearly fifty books of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction over the course of his five-decade career. He died on October 16, 2018, at the age of 80 in Montague, Prince Edward Island.
Saltsea A Novel
by David Helwig
"Birdsong, wind: here by the ocean every noise was surrounded by silence that reached all the way to the stars. Monica studied the white shingled building above the slope of green lawn, deep bays rising two storeys on each side of the front door and the windowed porch. You felt the big rambling construction must have a memory, old thoughts. Listen, I am the voice of what once was. I am as real as the beating of your hungry heart. A flash of sun blinded her, a pirouette of the dazzling god."
So begins David Helwig's Saltsea. A lovely, meditative novel, a story about memory, and about how what once was continues to affect what is and what will be. It is the story of a place, of the family that used to own it, and the people who have been its caretakers. Saltsea, a hotel on the shores of Prince Edward Island, where people come for a brief time, their lives intersecting in intimate and unforeseen ways. The characters of Saltsea are finely drawn, with humour, love and compassion. Sadness and even tragedy are a constant here, but Helwig handles it all humanely, without sentimentality, and with the control of a writer at the height of his powers. Saltsea, befitting a novel so concern with memory, is not something you will soon forget.
So begins David Helwig's Saltsea. A lovely, meditative novel, a story about memory, and about how what once was continues to affect what is and what will be. It is the story of a place, of the family that used to own it, and the people who have been its caretakers. Saltsea, a hotel on the shores of Prince Edward Island, where people come for a brief time, their lives intersecting in intimate and unforeseen ways. The characters of Saltsea are finely drawn, with humour, love and compassion. Sadness and even tragedy are a constant here, but Helwig handles it all humanely, without sentimentality, and with the control of a writer at the height of his powers. Saltsea, befitting a novel so concern with memory, is not something you will soon forget.
FictionHumorousLiteraryPsychologicalTravelCanadaAtlantic Provinces (NB, NL, NS, PE)
RELEASED2006
PUBLISHERBiblioasis
LENGTH214
LANGUAGEEN
David Helwig, CM, a Canadian editor, essayist, memoirist, novelist, poet, short story writer and translator, was born and spent his early childhood years in Toronto, Ontario. When he was ten years old, his family moved to Niagara-on-the-Lake, where his father ran an antiques business. He received a Bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto in 1960 and two years later, a Masters degree from the University of Liverpool. After graduating, he returned to Canada to teach at Queen's University in Kingston. His first book, a collection of poems called <i>Figures in a Landscape</i>, was published in 1968 with Oberon Press. In 1992 he moved to Montreal, then after four years there, to Belfast, Prince Edward Island. In 2007, he received the Matt Cohen Award from the Writers' Trust of Canada in honour of his lifetime contribution to Canadian literature. He was appointed Prince Edward Island's third Poet Laureate in 2008 and on July 1, 2009 was named a Member of the Order of Canada. Helwig published nearly fifty books of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction over the course of his five-decade career. He died on October 16, 2018, at the age of 80 in Montague, Prince Edward Island.
