Looking for a good Canadian author to read about Newfoundland but don’t know whom to go in for? Wayne Johnston might just be who you are looking for. His work, ‘The Colony of Unrequited Dreams’, talks about a tale of passion and ambition, set against the backdrop of Newfoundland.
A few words about the author
Born in Goulds, Newfoundland, Wayne Johnston is a popular modern novelist. He was born in 1958. Wayne received education at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. With an English literature degree, he started working for the St. John’s Daily News as a journalist.
He was doing it for three years but later decided to move to Ottawa. In this new place, he started writing as a career. His first novels appeared already from the time he entered college. Everybody has read his popular works, which includes the likes of The Story of Bobby O’Malley, and The Time of Their Lives.
While his work did get literary awards, the real success came to the writer only after the appearance of his outstanding novel. By the way, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams is the first part of the trilogy about Newfoundland. Wayne Johnston keeps writing and giving lectures on writing and English literature.
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams is not just a Canadian bestseller. Published in the USA, it acquired international popularity. The novel is devoted to Johnston’s motherland – the province of Newfoundland. It is a historical novel portraying a famous Newfoundland politician Joe Smallwood.
Smallwood wanted to do something important for Newfoundlanders. He could not agree that the island is treated like a useless colony, but not a meaningful part of Canada. His teacher from England once said that this island is a place where only unworthy people come to live, and Smallwood is at the bottom of this barrel. The young guy cannot agree with him.
Being 20, quite short and think, he does not look like a hero or even a person who can change his own life, leave aside many people’s lives. But he tries to. Smallwood thinks over a huge mission. He knows that he has come to this world to change it. To change this lost land to the “new found land”. Step by step he moves on, becoming a journalist for a famous New York newspaper.
After this, he became an active union leader sweeping into the political world of intrigues and machinations made by those who have the power.
At that point, people of Newfoundland were put in front of the decision whether to join Canada or become an independent country.
Sure, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams was inspired by historical events, but the author also used his imagination and his own interpretation of human actions and heart. Johnston was only 19 years old when he met Joe Smallwood in real life.
He just started writing as a journalist. Joe Smallwood died in 1991, so the time that passed since their meeting has given Johnston a chance to imagine some of the influences this politician had at his most active period.
In one of his interviews, the writer stated that he always wanted to write a book about Newfoundland, and a book inspiring Newfoundlanders, inspiring them to learn their past and to form their future with firmness and wisdom.