About the Book
From The Publisher: A CANADA BOOK AWARD WINNER! For centuries, foreign seamen have been resting in the port city of St. John's, Newfoundland, while conflicting with local fishers over their perceived pillaging of sea jewels in the form of cod and shrimp off NL's coast. And for centuries foreign men have loved local women while committed to their families oceans away. Author Ryan-Lush has taken this stigmatised, primitive premise of human loneliness and vulnerability, and endowed it with a soulful saga and tragedy of the modern era. Set in the Newfoundland of two decades ago, a foreign trawler, following a severe storm, is in port for 3 pre-Xmas weeks. In a St. John's pub, the married captain locks eyes with a local teacher fresh from a break-up with a Hibernia oilman. A classic tale of love and heartbreak on NL's rocky shores. Geraldine Ryan-Lush's bestselling novel of love amidst stigma and impossible obstacles in the quaint, beloved old town of St. John's, Newfoundland, has touched the hearts of people worldwide. On a rainsoaked, windswept, pre-Christmas night in St. John's, Newfoundland, prim and proper teacher Jacqueline O'Rielly is hit with a sudden, reckless urge to go bar-hopping. What she finds in a dingy, harbourfront pub where a Baltic shipwrecked shrimp captain is sojourning will forever alter the course of the rest of her life. Aleksandr Bovka (Sasha) is married, can hardly speak a word of English, and only in port long enough for his battered ship to be seaworthy again. What follows is the collision catalyst for tragic, impossible chemistry, as these two unlikely lovers from opposite ends of the world find that one can't live without the other. . A searing saga of the elemental twists of fate, that leave even the most cynical believing in the power of eternal love. PRAISE FOR THE SEASHELL'S LAMENT: ***A CANADA BOOK AWARD WINNER***. "Wow. Read this fabulous book in one sitting. It kept me awake suffering along with the characters. Wonderful, masterful writing.."..Angela Otto, Author, Custody Of The Eyes. This novel has it all..".. Arts & Life
"An elegantly written novel of love, separation, betrayal, tragedy, & the spaces of time that change all, in the tradition of such greats as Doctor Zvigago...author shows a remarkable talent... Waterstones, U.K.
"Admired the fact she had the fortitude to create, from a centuries-old tradition, a great love story."...Goodreads "Nice surprise! The author demonstrates her capability in crafting a major novel with caring & competence. .Deservedly a 5-Star.."...Chapters/Indigo/Coles ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Geraldine Ryan-Lush is the multi-award-winning, bestselling author of 18 books, among them 4 novels and a celebrated collection of poetry. She holds a B.A. (ED) from Memorial University, and has been a columnist for The Evening Telegram. Her works of literary criticism and review have been published in national and international sources as Canadian Children's Literature and Leipzig Explorations In Literature And Culture. Her books are reviewed in Copley News Services, Washington, Toronto Star, London Free Press, Winnipeg Free Press, Canadian Book Review Annual, Quill & Quire, Books In Canada, CCL, Canadian Materials, School Library Journal, N.Y., The Observer, Montreal, Atlantic Books Today, CBC, T.V. Week, PR Underground, U.S., Rogers Cable, among numerous other sources. Her awards: American Bookseller's Pick Of The Lists, Merit Magazine Studio Award, Alcuin Society Design Award, Atlantic Books Today Editors' Pick, Readers' Favourite 5-Star, and in 2020, 4-times awarded the Canada Book Award for her novels The Seashell's Lament, The Gravel Pit Kids, and two rhyming books Goodbye Wart, and Mumps Mania: A Runaway Virus Tale. Born and raised in Newfoundland, she still lives and writes on the beautiful East coast of the island.
