{"product_id":"the-colony-of-unrequited-dreamsbooks","title":"The Colony Of Unrequited Dreams","description":"\u003ci\u003eThe Colony of Unrequited Dreams \u003c\/i\u003eis a novel about Newfoundland  that centres on the story of Joe Smallwood, the true-life controversial political  figure who ushered the island through confederation with Canada and became its first  premier. Narrated from Smallwood's perspective, it voices a deep longing on the part  of the Newfoundlander to do something significant, “commensurate with the greatness  of the land itself”. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Smallwood, born in 1900, is the first  of thirteen children raised from the ‘scruff’ of Newfoundland, as opposed to the  ‘quality’. Smallwood seems an unlikely hero to fulfil what he sees as his mission: to transform  the ‘old lost land’, with its lack of identity, into ‘the new found land.' With perseverance  and determination, he sets about the task, becoming a journalist for a socialist  newspaper in New York and then a union leader, at one point walking the 700-mile  railway track across the island to sell memberships to the section-men living in  shacks. He sees beyond his unpromising background, the cold and unrelenting hardship  and isolation, envisioning a proud and great destiny. Eventually, a politician full  of wild moneymaking schemes, he is swept into a world of intrigues and the machinations  of the power elite, just as Newfoundland must decide whether to become an independent  country or to join Canada.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In counterpoint to the earnest endeavours of Smallwood is the Dorothy Parker-like figure of his lifelong  friend, Sheilagh Fielding. Fielding becomes an acerbic  newspaper columnist, a hard drinker with a sharp tongue who shares a strange love-hate  relationship with Smallwood.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Smallwood’s chronicle of his development  from poor schoolboy to Father of the Confederation is a story full of epic journeys  and thwarted loves, travelling from the ice floes of the seal hunt to New York City,  in a style reminiscent at times of John Irving, Robertson Davies and Charles Dickens.  Absorbing and entertaining, \u003ci\u003eThe Colony of Unrequited Dreams\u003c\/i\u003e provides us with a deep  perspective on the relationship between private lives and what comes to be understood  as history.","brand":"Johnston, Wayne","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Adult Fiction G-L)","offer_id":33692252995720,"sku":"","price":12.75,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":47861856534752,"sku":null,"price":21.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0330\/3125\/8248\/products\/243109.jpg?v=1760200320","url":"https:\/\/agricola-street-books.myshopify.com\/products\/the-colony-of-unrequited-dreamsbooks","provider":"Agricola Street Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}