In this illuminating portrait of both rural and urban life for women in Newfoundland, Allison Fizzard curates a collection of letters exchanged between her late grandmother, aunt, and mother—Flora, Molly, and Elva Blake—during the 1940s and 50s. For women living in outport communities, these decades saw continuity with traditional ways but also new opportunities for education, mobility, and paid employment. Molly and Elva move from their small fishing community of Barr’d Islands on Fogo Island initially to pursue work as teachers, documenting their responses to both the old and the new.
The letters of Flora, Molly, and Elva Blake colourfully communicate the experiences of women during a critical period of social, economic, and political transition in Newfoundland. As Molly seeks a path out of teaching and Elva enjoys the social scene as a university student in St. John’s, their mother writes to them describing daily life back home on Fogo Island, where accidents, illnesses, and church activities keep her busy. These letters, supplemented by diary entries penned by Molly and Elva, speak to the challenges, joys, and yearnings of women facing tremendous change.
