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The Death of Donna Whalen

by Michael Winter (Goodreads Author)

3.41 of 5 stars 3.41 · rating details · 81 ratings · 21 reviews

When Donna Whalen is stabbed thirty-one times in her home on Empire Avenue in St. John’s, her friends, family, and neighbours believe the culprit to be her abusive boyfriend, Sheldon Troke. But the evidence is circumstantial, the testimonies tainted by personal bias and attempts at deception. Police and prosecutors face a daunting challenge, and the course of justice, with...more

Hardcover, 272 pages

Published August 31st 2010 by HAMISH HAMILTON CA

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May 31, 2012 Ian rated it 2 of 5 stars

Michael Winter has deliberately blurred the line between fiction and non-fiction in this book, making use of transcripts and testimonies to build a narrative that examines the circumstances surrounding a notorious murder that occurred in St. John's, Nfld, and the subsequent conviction of the man police were convinced committed the crime. The Death of Donna Whalen is described in the publicity blurb as a "work of documentary fiction," and the narrative consists of third-person accounts from the p...more

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Jan 05, 2013 brenna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-1-2013, read-2013

Ok, probably 4/5 stars for story but I'm bumping it up to 5 stars for bravery and complexity.

Winter has taken ten thousand pages of documentary evidence relating to a murder in the usually peaceful city of St. John's, Newfoundland. From it he has extracted 80,000 words to construct his novel, making only minor changes in tense and point of view to allow the narrative to flow. The effect -- leaving vernacular and voice intact -- is that of a community telling the story of its own tragedy (a trag...more

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Sep 15, 2010 Monica rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is an absolutely amazing work of "documentary fiction" that kept me completely captivated. Based on an actual murder that took place in St.John's Newfoundland, Michael Winter has taken court testimonies and transcripts and written a novel that vividly shows the tragedy, hopelessness, and despair surrounding the death of Donna Whalen.

It's easy to Google the real murder that took place in 1993...and you'll be compelled to...but because Winter took such care to keep the identity of these peopl...more

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Aug 01, 2011 Vicki rated it 5 of 5 stars

A brief synopsis of "The Death of Donna Whalen" would seem simple on the surface, and would also seem to separate swiftly those who would read such a story from those who would not. Based on a true case, the story is about a spirited but troubled young woman who meets a premature and very violent end. Her troubles prior to her death included dealing in behaviours and with people who were truly or reputed to be dangerous. It would seem clear who was responsible for her death. End of a cautionary...more A brief synopsis of "The Death of Donna Whalen" would seem simple on the surface, and would also seem to separate swiftly those who would read such a story from those who would not. Based on a true case, the story is about a spirited but troubled young woman who meets a premature and very violent end. Her troubles prior to her death included dealing in behaviours and with people who were truly or reputed to be dangerous. It would seem clear who was responsible for her death. End of a cautionary tale, grimly told ...?

Not at all. Drawing on a daunting array of records from the real-life trial of the suspected murderer - court transcripts, police wiretaps, police and news reports, letters, diary excerpts and more - author Michael Winter has distilled them into a singular account of a murder case and its attendant tragedy that is not at all what it seems. Its transcendent approach to capturing this story should and will also draw in readers to the book who might normally eschew "true crime" fare.

Winter's innovation is that he has created an unlikely Greek chorus out of the voices that emerge from the towering stack of material that apparently lived at the back of his closet for a number of the years during which he grappled with how to tell the story. Further, out of the cacophony of confused, fearful and duplicitous voices telling their versions of Donna Whalen's story and fate, Winter forges a distinct voice of his own. The alchemy is that he takes first person accounts, compresses them, and sensitively and acutely converts them to the third person, while still retaining accents, inflections and resonances that create an unforgettable collective voice that haunted this reader in her dreams. The result is simultaneously intimate, distancing and authentic, making the story that much more compelling. The final effect also likely replicates the maddening conundrum that law enforcement, investigators and ultimately justice faced and struggled with in arriving at their flawed conclusions.

Many of the relationships between voices and figures in the story are not explained until the end of the book. While this creates some confusion, it also adds to the effect of there not seeming to be a single, reliable voice telling Donna's story. The reader struggles with her own trust and skepticism - which can change in waves from character to character, and from moment to moment with given characters - that is almost visceral, and therefore that much more intensely engaging.

Winter himself, as well as reviewers, have cited Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" as a point of reference and comparison for "The Death of Donna Whalen." While "Donna" is equally groundbreaking in form, the book is really closer in spirit, form and voice to Kenneth J. Harvey's "Inside". "Donna"'s collective voice is as pervasive, haunting and mercurial as "Inside"'s beleagured Myrden.

Winter as author and narrative voice is often charmingly, gregariously present in his previous books, such as This All Happened and The Architects Are Here. His presence in "The Death of Donna Whalen" is deceptively influential, but also respectfully circumspect. It will be interesting to see what "Donna" does or does not do with his voice in future works. Even if "Donna" stands alone in his oeuvre ... well, it truly stands alone, in every good sense of the phrase.(less)

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Jun 30, 2011 Lucinda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: canadian, contemporary-fiction

The first work of documentary-fiction that I have ever read. The introductory section indicates a little bit about that Winter means by this term, but I found listening to an interview with him on the cbc podcast 'the next chapter' more informative. Winters is calling it fiction only insofar as he changed the names of the people involved and constructed the testimony and records into something of a coherent narrative. In addition, he changed the testimony from first person to third person.
Clearl...more

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Dec 25, 2010 Rose rated it 5 of 5 stars

It used to make me cringe whenever I’d see the expression ‘nonfiction novel’ used. It’s a contradictory term: novels, by definition, are fictitious, even if they’re ‘based on a true story’. But Canadian author Michael Winter has convinced me that there can indeed be such a beast.

In the summer of 1993, a single mother named Brenda Young was found on the floor of her Empire Avenue apartment in St. John’s, Newfoundland. She had been stabbed thirty-one times and her underwear was so tightly wrapped...more It used to make me cringe whenever I’d see the expression ‘nonfiction novel’ used. It’s a contradictory term: novels, by definition, are fictitious, even if they’re ‘based on a true story’. But Canadian author Michael Winter has convinced me that there can indeed be such a beast.

In the summer of 1993, a single mother named Brenda Young was found on the floor of her Empire Avenue apartment in St. John’s, Newfoundland. She had been stabbed thirty-one times and her underwear was so tightly wrapped around her neck that the investigators initially assumed that it had been knotted in place. Her on-again /off-again boyfriend, Randy Druken, was convicted of murder and spent six years in prison before being exonerated by DNA evidence. In 2000 Druken received $2.1-million in compensation and a government apology.

Michael Winter intended to write a nonfiction account of Brenda’s murder and its aftermath, but felt uneasy about exploiting the death of a woman whom he later described as being “alive, really alive”. He was also concerned about the effect such a book might have on her survivors and the other people who were drawn unwillingly into the messy investigation and court proceedings. For awhile he shelved the project, but the story stayed with him, its allure becoming stronger with time. Finally Winter yielded- partly. Instead of a true crime book, he wrote The Death of Donna Whalen, a work of what he calls “documentary fiction.”

This novel takes its content and storyline from the public record, and anyone familiar with the case will recognize the real participants’ fictional counterparts. (Brenda Young is Donna Whalen, while Randy Druken becomes Sheldon Troke.) But what keeps the book from being invasive is its presentation as a fictionalized version of a real case.

The narrative unfolds primarily through the direct words of the characters, which are grouped and structured to resemble trial testimony and police witness statements. Liberal use of Newfoundland slang gives a more powerful sense of setting than any description of downtown St. John’s or the harbor. The entire presentation resonates deeply with me personally because I‘m originally from Eastern Canada, but you don’t have to be a Maritimer to enjoy this dark and compelling drama.

By dressing up an actual murder case as a fictional story, Winter helps outsiders better understand Donna Whalen / Brenda Young, Sheldon Troke / Randy Druken, and their world, which can be incomprehensible: Donna feared for her life, but let the man who slapped her around look after her two children whenever she wanted a night out. Donna’s little girl, Sharon, knew that Sheldon pushed her mother around yet still regarded him as a parent figure, going to him for advice when she had problems with her friends. But Winter demonstrates that violence was a natural and trivialized by-product of that society, where parties could end in knife fights and a jail cell was a second home to many.
Some readers may have trouble with how Michael Winter displaces elaborate descriptions and linear plot in favor of letting the story be told via a series of participant monologues. I admit that his approach is unique. But it makes The Death of Donna Whalen “alive, really alive”, just as he wanted Brenda Young to be remembered(less)

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Aug 25, 2011 Kathy Mcdonald rated it 4 of 5 stars

Yet another clear example of the truth being stranger than fiction. Nothing good comes of the sad story of the murder of a young mother of two in St. John's. Her live in boyfriend is ultimately convicted of the crime; a judicial enquiry concludes years later that the police investigation had tunnel vision, and that the accused should never have been charged, let alone convicted. Ultimately the boyfriend, Sheldon Troke in the novel, is released from jail after serving 6 years once DNA evidence fi...more

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Oct 29, 2011 Sue Smith rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2011, cbc-bookshelf

Well I wouldn't pick this book up if you're expecting an easy thrilling read. Filled with countless snippets, statements and accounts from both sides of the actual event, it reads like a bog of information that it surely was when they were trying to sort through it to find the murderer. Top that off with the fact that it's all done with 'Newfoundland speak' , it sometimes becomes hard to understand. (I don't have anything against Newfoundlanders - my sister in law loved living there and she love...more Well I wouldn't pick this book up if you're expecting an easy thrilling read. Filled with countless snippets, statements and accounts from both sides of the actual event, it reads like a bog of information that it surely was when they were trying to sort through it to find the murderer. Top that off with the fact that it's all done with 'Newfoundland speak' , it sometimes becomes hard to understand. (I don't have anything against Newfoundlanders - my sister in law loved living there and she loved how they would put things. But if you're not versed in how they twist their words, it's sometimes hard to follow. I was glad that I'd had a versing from her at least, when I started to read some of the statements).

Despite that fact, it was an interesting insight to reality. How and what has to be sorted through in order to find the guilty person isn't as easy as it's portrayed on TV. It certainly can't be sorted out in a convenient one hour package that we're all so used to. Nor do the clues just jump out and are so wonderfully obvious either. Nor is the staff all so competent or caring. It makes for quite a muddled finale. And truly it - at least for me - it doesn't really sort itself out. Despite some telling information, there's an incredible amount of grey area. It's very difficult to say what information is true or not or which has been planted or influenced or not. Unfortunately it didn't get any clearer as the book progressed. I was just glad the author sort of summed it up at the end.

I think the real tragedy in the story, apart from the murder itself, was the fact that her two children were the ones that found her the next morning. I can't imagine their horror of it. Nor of the continual horror that they will no doubt have to relive on a daily basis as they try to sort out their lives. Kids get such a raw deal in life sometimes and it's always forgotten that they'll grow up to be adults one day. How it's expected that they'll be able to function normally, as it if never happened, is beyond me. Ask any 'survivor' of any trauma and they'll tell you - it's not so easy. Even more so if you're a child. My heart ached for them.

I would like to read another book by Michael Winter. I don't think this was representational of his writing. I do think it was something that was close to his heart though and weighed heavily so he had to give it some form of life to release it. (less)

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Jul 13, 2012 Ainsley rated it 3 of 5 stars

I abandoned the last Michael Winter novel I attempted very early, as his idiosyncratic use of apostrophes -- or non-use, I should say -- got on my nerves. He does the same thing in this book, but the subject and structure of this book make this style seem appropriate. It's a fast read because it's hard to put down, even if familiarity with the actual case (Winter has changed the names of the people involved, but otherwise derives much of his text directly from the evidence of a murder investigat...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars

While Winter's use of Newfoundland dialect can be difficult for a mainlander to follow at times, it adds a sense of authenticity to the text - truly "documentary fiction", as the author dubbed it. Winter does a great job of capturing the city and conveying how a community deals with the aftermath of a crime. The process of reading this novel was not the most enjoyable one, but overall it proves to be a satisfactory work.

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Feb 09, 2011 Carrie Marcotte rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: canadian-literature, kobo

The story is interesting. A real-crime 'fiction' tale taken from actual transcripts of the trial and the events that lead up before and after the crime. I'm not sure how much is 'fiction' and how much is non-fiction though. The author states himself he has changed the names around. Maybe that is all that was changed? It took awhile to get used to the syntax of the prose, like the slang and the lack of punctuation. The story runs together also. I eventually got used to it but I thought it took su...more

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Oct 31, 2011 VWrulesChick rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2011, canadian, bookclub-cbc-books-monthly-reads, fiction, mystery, contemporary

This story is written in 'documentary fiction' style as it goes into detail from different points of view on the events and persons involved with the death of Donna Whalen (based on true events) that happened in Atlantic Canada through interviews, court documents, wiretaps and newpaper articles. It is an interesting approach to present the story and issues, while the speech and grammar was a little hard to grasp (which I am sure it is local linguistics at work in written format). Also glad there...more

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Aug 28, 2011 Scotchneat rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: canadia, mystery, non-fiction

I like the premise of this book - a multi-level examination of the death of woman. A real life.

I found that the dialogue was hard to follow at times - not due to regional language differences, but maybe not enough authorial intervention.

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Oct 21, 2011 beentsy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-done

I liked this book. I liked the tone and the pacing and I actually really liked the interesting way it was punctuated. It was strange to read it in this sort of chatting at the pub or the Tim Hortons kind of way though. Last year I was studying Canadian miscarriages of justice and all the things that can go wrong in investigations. My readings included the Lamer Report

http://www.justice.gov.nl.ca/just/pub...

It just seemed sort of surreal to now read this account of one of these miscarriages of ju...more

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Jan 19, 2011 Ann rated it 4 of 5 stars

doesn't increase one's faith in the system, on the other hand, makes one realize what kinds of people the system is dealing with -- very thought-provoking

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Oct 18, 2011 CJC rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was such a different book, I liked the format. I am glad the author decided to write the book, though I can understand the struggle with the idea of benefitting from someone else's pain.

It hit on a lot of difficult topics and served as a reminder that there are as many versions of a story as there are storytellers.

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Oct 14, 2011 Luke rated it 4 of 5 stars

Riveting.

The patterns of speech, the devastating turns of plot. It took a few pages to sort out the rhythm and narration (and the cast of characters really should be in the front of the book, not the back), and I would like to hear the reasons for shifting from first to third person, because often the speech *seems* so obviously spilling out of the person's mouth. (Seems, because I don't honestly know how the book was constructed.) Though the omniscient, eye of the community, voice has its momen...more

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Nov 07, 2011 janis rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wow.

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Sep 26, 2010 Shonna rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really don't understand what a documentary fiction is. At first I found the writing style very hard to get used to but I soon became hooked. In the end I would say I enjoyed it.

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Nov 03, 2010 Cheri rated it 2 of 5 stars

The Newfoundland slang made this a hard read ,I found it a bit disjointed and not as enjoyable as I expected.

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Aug 01, 2011 Pat rated it 2 of 5 stars

did not like the format of the book...

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May 20, 2013 Kathy is currently reading it

May 05, 2013 Theresa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: documentary-fiction

Apr 24, 2013 Diane Tye marked it as to-read

Apr 07, 2013 Neil Kennedy added it · review of another edition

Apr 09, 2013 Patricia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Mar 27, 2013 Delee marked it as to-read

Shelves: owned, non-fiction, mystery, canadian

Mar 20, 2013 Paul Demetre rated it 4 of 5 stars

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About Michael Winter

Author of five books: The Architects Are Here, The Big Why, This All Happened, One Last Good Look, Creaking in their Skins. His novel, The Death of Donna Whalen, is slated for publication in 2010.

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