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Coastal Lives Paperback – April 1 2014

5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 6 ratings

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This is an unabashed love story – a tale of two coasts, east and west, two writers, Marjorie Simmins and Silver Donald Cameron, and many definitions of home, evolving and complex. Among these, dogs and horses abound. You'll probably cry and you'll certainly laugh. Perhaps most of all, you'll cheer them on. She was a single and sad freelance fisheries reporter and writer living in Vancouver, on the West Coast of Canada. He was a widowed and heartbroken journalist and author, living in a small village on Isle Madame, Cape Breton. They met in Vancouver on a brilliant spring morning at a coffee shop. He was on a book tour and she was the reporter sent to interview him. “Hi, I'm Don,” he said; “Hi, I'm Marjorie,” she replied – and their lives changed forever. It took 800 e-mails, countless phone calls and three PFO letters, but in the end, she, age 37, agreed to start seeing him, age 59. But there was no way she was going to leave her beloved West Coast, and her family, friends, horses and dogs. That just wasn't going to happen. Or was it? Silver Donald Cameron was one “cussedly stubborn man,” as she once called him. This is a tale of love and resistance written with humour and candour. There are times of overwhelming happiness and flattening grief. Simmins writes of these times and the gentler ones as well, all against the backdrop of an East Coast Canadian world so new to her, she said she'd found a trip to Turkey less foreign. After all, she had thought the two coastal worlds would be similar. To her surprise, the two coasts had little in common. Food, fish, music, language, history and cultures were all different. Even the ocean smelled different, the saltier Atlantic so much more pungent. To her greater surprise, she came to fiercely love those differences, in ways both expected and surprising. She also fiercely loves the man who told her she was brave enough to “jump off a cliff – and tell a damn fine story at the other end.”

Product description

About the Author

Marjorie Simmins is an award-winning writer based in Halifax. Raised in Vancouver, she has worked as a freelance journalist, editor and writing instructor for over 20 years. Her articles and essays have appeared across Canada and the U.S. Her most recent award was a Gold Medal for the Best Atlantic Magazine article. She teaches memoir writing courses around the Maritimes and also offers memoir manuscript evaluations via her website, Memoirs and More, www.marjoriesimmins.ca.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pottersfield; 1st edition (April 1 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1897426542
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1897426548
  • Item weight ‏ : ‎ 300 g
  • Customer Reviews:
    5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 6 ratings

Customer reviews

5 out of 5 stars
6 global ratings

Top reviews from Canada

Reviewed in Canada on August 11, 2014
Verified Purchase
What an absolutely beautiful book! Honest, witty and full of warmth.
I normally don't read memoirs but since I read an article about the author and book in Saltscapes I knew I had to read it. I'm so very glad I did.
The very first chapter made me smile, cry and nod all at the same time. It was off to a good start and only got better.

One of the most beautiful books I've read in a long, long time.

My East Coaster (who happens to be 21 years my senior) is going to read this book, too. If I have to read it aloud to him. Not that I'd mind. I'm probably going to read Coastal Lives over and over again, anyway, this is how wonderful it is.

I do hope Mrs. Simmins will write another book, I'd love to read more from her!
Reviewed in Canada on September 20, 2015
Verified Purchase
Very good read, love it
Reviewed in Canada on November 7, 2019
A brilliant, intimate heart-warming memoir, cleverly organized with its back-and-forward chronology, and a charmingly written tribute to a loving relationship that began on Canada's West Coast and flourished on the East Coast.
Reviewed in Canada on July 26, 2014
I could not put this book down. The sheer honesty and openness of the author is admirable. This honesty and openness of the important elements of life - love, death, change, growth - are described by the author in such a way that I felt joy, sadness, and curiosity as I read the text's pages.

The descriptions of Cape Breton and BC's culture, traditions and geography were rich and appealed to the imagination. The love and the challenges rooted in the dichotomy of these regions, lived by the author and so many Canadians, was palpable in the text.

A love for humanity, for animals, for home, and, of course, romance - all brought forth by the author in her first memoir makes this an excellent read for a versatile group of readers. I highly recommend Coastal Lives to those who love an honest story told by a talented storyteller.
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Reviewed in Canada on November 12, 2014
This I-can't-put-it-down memoir is an inspiring glimpse into the author's life through a gamut of life's events and emotions. Marjorie Simmins has a wonderful writing style that takes you along the journey with her; she shares the experiences and feelings without holding back. Even during the sometimes sad times, there is an optimism in the writer's voice, a sparkle that comes through. And there is a good love story here that has its start when the author, a B.C. freelancer, interviews Silver Donald Cameron for a story and...well, the rest is wonderful history. Insightful, vibrant, and funny, Coastal Lives is one of the best memoirs I have read.
Reviewed in Canada on August 31, 2014
How much are our lives embedded in place? What happens when love uproots us? How do we deal with the early and unnecessary death of a beloved sister? These are questions Simmins wrestles with in her strikingly honest and moving memoir. Hard to put down.