From Publishers Weekly
Canadian novelist Coady makes her American debut with this touching and funny story of a teenage boy who becomes the victim of the rumor mill in his small rural Nova Scotia community in the early 1980s. Guy Boucher lives with his overworked mother, his reclusive goth sister and his loud, opinionated, boorishly conservative and usually drunk Uncle Isadore. The likable Guy is socially awkward but perceptive and intelligent, with a sharp wit that usually deserts him when he opens his mouth. Guy becomes enamoured of pretty, popular Corinne Fortune, a pampered girl from nearby Big Harbour who rejects him. Caught in a web of lies she's already spun about an imaginary boyfriend, and motivated by a teenager's taste for melodrama, Corinne tells a friend that Guy has treated her brutally. In the way of small communities, her untruths pass from mouth to mouth, gaining momentum until the whole town is worked up in a collective rage over the unwitting Guy, who can't understand why he's getting so many dirty looks. The novel is told from the alternating viewpoints of Guy, Corinne and other supporting characters, including Corinne's serious, sensible best friend, Pam; Corinne's precocious and neurotic older brother, Howard; and Guy's former English teacher, Alison, an American draft dodger and drinking buddy of Isadore's who habitually hangs out (or passes out) at Guy's house and becomes his unlikely mentor. Coady's voice is assured, and she has a sensitive ear for dysfunctional family dynamics and teenage posturing. Though the characters are not equally well developed one wishes that Corinne in particular was more nuanced this is an affecting coming-of-age story and a darkly comic picture of an insular, down-at-the-heels and alcohol-soddened community.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
With this work (the author's second novel and first U.S. release), Canadian-born Coady marks herself as a literary talent to watch. While writing from the alternating perspectives of several key players, she centers on Guy Boucher, a teenager in Big Harbor, Cape Breton, who is trying to find his way amid a chaotic family and small-town justice. The story begins with Guy's Uncle Isadore, a career alcoholic oblivious to the wreckage he causes around him, whom a local judge places in the custody of his impoverished sister, Marianne, and her two teenagers. In exchange, Marianne is granted the use of Isadore's truck, which enables her to take a job and also lets Guy drive to town to see Corinne Fortune, a beautiful but troubled girl who complicates his life in an unexpected way. Coady stunningly captures the torment of adolescence as well as Uncle Isadore's inscrutable charm; no matter how strongly readers may want to detest Uncle Isadore, they will be unable to resist him. Highly recommended for most literary fiction collections.Tamara Butler, Olean P.L., NYCopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Anyone who is now, or has ever been, a teenager will relate strongly to Coady's compassionate, comic story of alienation and acceptance, family and friendship. For young Guy Boucher, life in Big Harbour is tediously oppressive. School is a joke, his friends are all losers, and the girl he thought liked him for some reason wants to have him killed. Growing up without a dad, the closest thing to a father Guy can turn to is his uncle Isadore, a failed hockey player, boxer, and unemployed steelworker. Indeed, the only thing Isadore excels at is drinking, and his alcoholic rages only contribute to Guy's sense of isolation and confusion. Trapped in a two-bit, dead-end town on the outskirts of nowhere, Guy longs to be someone and somewhere else: feelings that do not belong exclusively to the young. Perceptively grasping the insecurities that plague teenagers and haunt adults, from boys' macho posturings to girls' escapist fantasies, Coady's discerning portrayal of adolescent angst and mature malaise is nothing short of inspired. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
?The violent colours of small-town life in Saints of Big Harbour are overlaid with a sheen of weird tenderness and wry humour. Coady takes us to the depths of isolation where her groping characters fight their loneliness with booze, brawls and self-delusion. Compelling and complex, this book is a page-turning delight.? ? Eden Robinson, author of Monkey Beach

?Coady swerves with a hardy veteran?s knowing ? the artful details and nuance of Coady?s renderings of the archetypal dilemma confirm that her work is among the most noteworthy in the country.? ? National Post

?Coady has a lively talent, writing with curiosity and warmth about the heartrending tangles of human connection.? ? The Globe and Mail


Book Description
"A true grit coming-of-age novel" (Seattle Post-Intelligencer), Saints of Big Harbour is a funny, brutal, and vivid story about small-town life and the inescapable power of gossip. Lynn Coady gives us the unforgettable Guy Boucher, a fatherless teenager and recluse, who finds himself at the center of an ugly rumor. Several versions of truth emerge and collide through Guy's eyes and the stories of those who surround him -- his overbearing uncle, a girl idealized by her town, a quietly wise young woman wrestling with demons of her own, his draft-dodger English teacher, and a pair of golden boys trapped in emotional adolescence as well as Big Harbour itself.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In Saints of Big Harbour, Guy Boucher, a fatherless teenager, finds himself at the center of an ugly rumor involving a girl idealized by her town. Through his eyes and the stories of those who surround him - his uncle Isadore, Dickensian and overbearing; Pam, a quietly wise girl with a predilection for Shakespeare; his draft-dodger English teacher; a pair of golden boys stuck in emotional adolescence - several versions of the truth emerge and combine. As the story unfolds, so does a rich and often funny portrait of a community driven and oppressed by cliches of gender, strength and beauty, family and love. Villainy is an everyday affair in Big Harbour, and the closest thing to heroism is Guy's dogged ingenuousness and makeshift dignity.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Canadian novelist Coady makes her American debut with this touching and funny story of a teenage boy who becomes the victim of the rumor mill in his small rural Nova Scotia community in the early 1980s. Guy Boucher lives with his overworked mother, his reclusive goth sister and his loud, opinionated, boorishly conservative and usually drunk Uncle Isadore. The likable Guy is socially awkward but perceptive and intelligent, with a sharp wit that usually deserts him when he opens his mouth. Guy becomes enamoured of pretty, popular Corinne Fortune, a pampered girl from nearby Big Harbour who rejects him. Caught in a web of lies she's already spun about an imaginary boyfriend, and motivated by a teenager's taste for melodrama, Corinne tells a friend that Guy has treated her brutally. In the way of small communities, her untruths pass from mouth to mouth, gaining momentum until the whole town is worked up in a collective rage over the unwitting Guy, who can't understand why he's getting so many dirty looks. The novel is told from the alternating viewpoints of Guy, Corinne and other supporting characters, including Corinne's serious, sensible best friend, Pam; Corinne's precocious and neurotic older brother, Howard; and Guy's former English teacher, Alison, an American draft dodger and drinking buddy of Isadore's who habitually hangs out (or passes out) at Guy's house and becomes his unlikely mentor. Coady's voice is assured, and she has a sensitive ear for dysfunctional family dynamics and teenage posturing. Though the characters are not equally well developed one wishes that Corinne in particular was more nuanced this is an affecting coming-of-age story and a darkly comic picture of an insular, down-at-the-heels and alcohol-soddened community. Agent, Denise Bukowski. (Nov. 7) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

KLIATT - Susan Allison

Set in the fictional town of Big Harbour, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, this novel is a coming-of-age story about Guy Boucher. His mother, Marianne, works as a housekeeper and is well rid of her alcoholic, religious fanatic of a husband. Since the death of his grandfather, Guy, his mother and his sister, Louise, continue to live in the family home along with loud and boorish Uncle Isadore Aucoin, an alcoholic who alternately defends and destroys normal family life. The cultures of the stereotypical, rough-cut native French Canadians and the prejudiced townspeople of Big Harbour clash constantly, displaying routine abrasiveness and underlying distrust on both sides. Town police harass strangers, like Alison Mason, a draft-dodging teacher from New York and mentor/friend of Guy, as well as foreigners in general and French Canadians in particular. When nasty rumors start that Guy has taken advantage of a cute local flirt, Corinne Fortune, his life becomes a nightmare. Though certainly not "saints" in any traditional religious sense, each character tries to construct and remain faithful to his or her personal moral and ethical system of values. This is a grim, sometimes brutally realistic story that vividly captures the voices of rural teen culture struggling for space, justice, power, identity, and independence. Guy has a choice. Does he want to remain stuck in the established patterns of his life thus far or does he want to escape by making his own decisions and taking charge of his life? Coady's success lies in her ability to treat a potentially depressing story with both wry humor and irony. The novel will appeal especially to teens whose own experiences provide links to the personalities,situations, and relationships explored. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2002, Houghton Mifflin, 328p., Ages 15 to adult.

Library Journal

With this work (the author's second novel and first U.S. release), Canadian-born Coady marks herself as a literary talent to watch. While writing from the alternating perspectives of several key players, she centers on Guy Boucher, a teenager in Big Harbor, Cape Breton, who is trying to find his way amid a chaotic family and small-town justice. The story begins with Guy's Uncle Isadore, a career alcoholic oblivious to the wreckage he causes around him, whom a local judge places in the custody of his impoverished sister, Marianne, and her two teenagers. In exchange, Marianne is granted the use of Isadore's truck, which enables her to take a job and also lets Guy drive to town to see Corinne Fortune, a beautiful but troubled girl who complicates his life in an unexpected way. Coady stunningly captures the torment of adolescence as well as Uncle Isadore's inscrutable charm; no matter how strongly readers may want to detest Uncle Isadore, they will be unable to resist him. Highly recommended for most literary fiction collections.-Tamara Butler, Olean P.L., NY

Kirkus Reviews