Sweetland: A Novel

The government has decided to buy the residents of Sweetland out for a handsome sum and then will relocate them to a place of their choice. However, 100% of the residents must sign on for the deal to proceed. Moses Sweetland is the last holdout and the townspeople are beginning to resent his obstinacy. The deal is sweet, and they are not happy that Moses is preventing them from getting their money. They want to leave the island that is no longer able to support them or their families, and they want to begin again elsewhere. Moses does not want to begin again elsewhere, and he has his good reasons, too. Soon, the once close community begins to unravel and diminish in size as the residents voice their resentment to him, sometimes acting out against him, and eventually, also moving on to new homes in other places.
The description of the quiet, hardscrabble lifestyle that the elements demanded of the residents is spot on. The dialogue is simple and perfectly captures the way in which the locals would have bantered with each other. Moses kept many secrets which he thought protected the community as well as protected the residents, in some cases, from the community’s wagging tongues. The climate was unforgiving and the commercial opportunities were scarce. Most subsisted on meager “givings” from the land and their livestock, working off-island, at times, to support their families. They adjusted to the way of life and would acclimate to their new lives as well. They were hardy people, and of necessity and also because of true concern, they usually treated each other like family, caring for and helping each other when necessary, until, that is, their greed began to obsess them.
Leaving Sweetland for Moses, would mean losing his heritage, the home in which he grew up, his memories, his buried relatives, and along with the camaraderie of his friends, neighbors and relatives, he would also lose himself, his raison d’etre. Leaving the island would mean erasing his entire past and ancestry. He and his family would simply disappear from memory. Sweetland struggles with and deals with his dilemma in the way of a simple man, without thinking it through well enough, because he didn’t really have the wherewithal to do anything else. He simply had the desire to protect what was his and on a wing and a prayer, he went forward.
The tale moves back and forth between the present and the past as Sweetland’s history and the secrets in his life are revealed. This is a story about a man the reader is going to love and root for, because he is a gentle, soul, not well educated, sometimes with a sharp tongue, who has simple needs and will probably confound and confuse the reader with his actions. He is dedicated to holding on to what he believes in, holding on to his heritage. He is being forced to resist the efforts of the townspeople he has lived with all his life, the friends and relatives who are now trying to convince him to take the deal and leave the land his family settled and for which the island is named. This remote area of Newfoundland is called Sweetland, and nearby, there is also an even smaller island that is called Little Sweetland.
Did the island become a prison for Moses, eventually, rather than a refuge, or was it his salvation as he marched into oblivion?

I received this novel, an advanced readers copy, from Liveright Publishing Corp and Michael Crummey as a Goodreads Giveaway. Thank you all for allowing me to read this wonderful novel and to add such a great writer to my list of favorites. This is a very special book, with constant demands on your emotions and yet another family to care about and watch over.

Moses Sweetland is the last remaining descendent of the founding family of the small island of the same name off of the coast of Newfoundland. Like much of the southwest of the US, children of the last two or three generations had to move to the big cities for work, leaving the population of Sweetland older and disabled folks, and dwindling in numbers. The government, in order to cut their losses, offered a one time payment of $100,000 per family if they would move to the mainland and allow the island to return to the state. The only caveat is that everyone had to agree. Moses holds out, antagonizing the rest of the community. What follows is a great story, full of angst and joy and wonderful word pictures of a community isolated and very much well known to one another. Read this book. It will keep you up nights, I promise.

What a fabulous thing to discover Michael Crummey! This is a rare author, one who constructs every sentence with the utmost care (and utmost talent), who understands human nature, who knows both his subject and his craft inside-out. I often feel that there can be a purity about Canadian authors that authors from the states, who are trying to stand out, cannot achieve. This is an author of the highest purity and integrity. If you love literature, (that is LITERATURE, something you will ponder and remember for years), check out this man's books.

A beautifully written book about the last man on a Newfoundland island. The rest of the people have been lured away with cash settlements because the government doesn't want to maintain electric and water for the few diehards that still live there.

The stories of life on the island, the development of the main character, Moses Sweetland, and the overview of his hard life are described with detail and care. The story shifts from past to present like the tide. Sometimes you aren't sure where you are, but because you are in the life of Moses Sweetland, it doesn't matter. You'll find your way to a mooring quickly.

The careful story-telling makes this book a wonderful, satisfying read.

Sixty-nine-year-old Moses Sweetland lives on an island off Newfoundland named Sweetland by his ancestors who settled there. In Michael Crummey’s finely written novel, Sweetland, readers are drawn into this person and this place. The tension in the novel comes from the decision by the government to pay to relocate the remaining residents of the slowly dying island, provided all agree. Moses and one other person have not agreed, creating conflict with their neighbors. The themes of community and isolation are presented, along with the depth of this fully formed character who reflects on his life in ways that will provide a complete picture of a complicated person who has lived a hard life, and who is willing to stand alone. Readers who enjoy well-written literary fiction are those who are most likely to be entertained by this novel.

Rating: Four-star (I like it)

Pros: Michael Crummey is a gifted writer and has crafted a engaging tale of a forlorn land and its people.
He really draws you into the story with the depth of his characters and attention to details (but not tedious).
Before Crummey I thought the only Canadian who could write was Alice Munro. But apparently Canadians can write. Who knew, right?

Cons: Michael Crummey is sort of like the George RR Martin of Canada. The only way he knows to make a point or progress the plot is to kill off a character. Everyone of note dies in this. He hasn't really grown as a writer in this respect since Galore.
Obviously Crummey has a deep affection for Newfoundland. But perhaps he could set his novels in a coastal place to which more people can relate, like Maine, or Oregon or anywhere. He's not doing himself any favors with such an esoteric setting.

I may lack the literary depth to appreciate the craft of this novel, but I quit after reading about two thirds of it. The premise was interesting and unusual. Characters were drawn with clear personalities and positions in the storyline. The theoretical payoff of this book was supposed to be
a life defining decision. I discovered finally, I just didn't care. The character wasn't that compelling and his journey to the decision became repetitive and dull. Again, maybe it's me. The synopsis offered great promise of an interesting story, I just didn't find it.
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Great writing but typical Canadian novel - dark, depressing and doesn't really have much of a point. None of the characters are happy, some die tragically, one goes insane, another is unhappily married, the minister is a lech, they're mostly all alcoholics, one born out of wedlock and doesn't know who her father is, doesn't know the father of her son, remained a virgin entire life, wasted stoners, disfigurement, poverty, loss of community, hatred, starvation, animal disfigurement, back-stabbing friends... Sorry - those are probably spoilers but there really is nothing in the least bit happy in this novel, and nowhere is there such a place that is so awful and depressing. Like I said, he's a great writer but I'm not going to read anything else by him - I don't need a Disney story but this was just too over the top depressing.