Cover Image: Jennie's Boy

Jennie's Boy

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

A new Wayne Johnston is always something to celebrate and having one follow so soon after an other is a very pleasant surprise. I would have preferred the book to cover more of Wayne's childhood and in less depth (at times it felt like Jenny had been pregnant with her 5th child for 5 years), but he is a master storyteller so I was unable to put the book down.

Knowing that the author is over 6 feet tall made his childhood size all the more interesting and I hope that gets added to the book at the beginning rather than tucked away at the end.

I found myself making comparisons to Donna Morrissey's recent memoir Pluck which is a superior book, but I don't think it's necessarily a fair comparison given they have such different styles.

Was this review helpful?

You might think that a memoir covering a span of six months as a seven year old would be of scant general interest or entertainment value but the story within Jennie’s Boy: A Newfoundland Childhood is surprising, engaging, and full of heart. Reading like narrative nonfiction, Wayne Johnston’s account of having been a sickly child with a chaotic home life is told with warmth and humour, and has a satisfying narrative arc. And for anyone who has read a pile of Johnston’s novels, as I have, there’s something very intriguing about seeing the influences behind his later writing; between this and The Mystery of Right and Wrong, I feel like I’ve gotten to really know the author this year and the experience has been a delight. Turns out, six months in the life of this seven year old makes for a very satisfying tale.

Was this review helpful?