Sweetland

The scarcely populated town of Sweetland rests on the shore of a remote Canadian island. Its slow decline finally reaches a head when the mainland government offers each islander a generous resettlement package - the sole stipulation being that everyone must leave.

Moses Sweetland, the stubborn, enigmatic old man whose ancestors founded the village, is the only islander to refuse to accept their deal. As he watches his neighbours abandon the island, he recalls the town's rugged history and its eccentric cast of characters.

Evoking The Shipping News, Michael Crummey - one of Canada's finest novelists - conjures up the mythical, sublime world of Moses Sweetland's past amid a storm- battered landscape haunted by local lore.

Crummey masterfully weaves together past and present, creating in Sweetland a spectacular portrait of one man's battle to survive as his environment vanishes around him.