A Brief Introduction

God’s Country is a companion volume to the recent and much-acclaimed collection of new Cape Breton short stories called The Men’s Breakfast. But for this book I wanted to gather a collection of Cape Breton classics—seventeen short stories that have played their role in winning for Cape Breton a lasting place at the table of Canadian literature. Some of these stories are well-known and much anthologized and even dramatized, such as Alistair MacLeod’s “The Boat” and Silver Donald Cameron’s “Snapshot: The Third Drunk.” Other worthies are harder to find—exceptional buried gems that should not be lost—such as Mike Finigan’s Journey Prize finalist called “Passion Sunday” and Claudia Gahlinger’s impeccable “Harvest.”

For a collection of classic short stories, God’s Country turns out to be a personal book. I’ve lived with many of these stories for years—often as companions on walks or through the occasional sleepless night—and I see each of them as a solid accomplishment, worthy of any reader’s attention.

Wanting to keep this book manageable, I limited myself to just one story per author, even though several of these writers have more than one story that can be called classic. And for those who want more, I have added suggested further reading in “About the Writers” on page 207. Moreover, some readers will have other stories they think should have been included, and I hope to hear from them—which happily points toward yet another collection down the road.

Cape Bretoners tend to honour their heroes by using only their given names. In conversation, we speak of fiddlers as Buddy and Winston, Dan R. and Ashley, Natalie and Theresa and Donald Angus—and everyone understands. In recent years our singers have joined in that tribute, such as Rita and Raylene, John Allan and Mary Jane. And today, more and more, we refer to our authors that way—as Alistair and Silver Donald, D.R. and Sheldon, Frank and Lynn. Our writers have become heroes and—by that—a part of our everyday lives.

I want to thank the authors for permission to include their stories, and the librarians at Cape Breton University and the Cape Breton Regional Library for their efforts toward gathering these texts.

Ronald Caplan,

Wreck Cove