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The Wake: The Deadly Legacy of a Newfoundland Tsunami

Linden MacIntyre

4.01 · Rating details · 505 ratings · 97 reviews

In the vein of Erik Larson’s Isaac’s Storm and Dead Wake comes an incredible true story of destruction and survival in Newfoundland by one of Canada’s best-known writers

On November 18, 1929, a tsunami struck Newfoundland’s Burin Peninsula. Giant waves, up to three storeys high, hit the coast at a hundred kilometres per hour, flooding dozens of communities and washing entir ...more

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ebook, 387 pages

Published August 27th 2019 by HarperCollins Publishers

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Dec 30, 2020 Kathleen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: canadian-literature, 2020, book-that-i-own, canadian-author, history, non-fiction, canadian-bingo-2020, 5-star-books, gifted-to-me

Special thanks to my 2019 Goodreads Secret Sender for gifting me this book. Several years ago I read The Bishop's Man by Linden MacIntyre, so I knew that The Wake: The Deadly Legacy Of A Newfoundland Tsunami would be a good book.

I was aware that there was a tsunami in 1929, and that it severed transatlantic cables on the ocean floor. But I did not know about the devastation and loss of life it caused in Burin, Newfoundland.

"For Newfoundlanders, the first half of the twentieth century had been Special thanks to my 2019 Goodreads Secret Sender for gifting me this book. Several years ago I read The Bishop's Man by Linden MacIntyre, so I knew that The Wake: The Deadly Legacy Of A Newfoundland Tsunami would be a good book.

I was aware that there was a tsunami in 1929, and that it severed transatlantic cables on the ocean floor. But I did not know about the devastation and loss of life it caused in Burin, Newfoundland.

"For Newfoundlanders, the first half of the twentieth century had been a dizzying succession of catastrophes: natural disaster; horrific wartime casualties; poverty, plagues and riots; the collapse of a democracy and a divisive national debate about the political future of the island."

I did not know about the Fluorspar Mines in St. Lawrence, Newfoundland nor the shipwrecks of USS Truxtun and U.S. Navy supply ship Pollux on February 18, 1942.

"The entire town became an extended rescue station, and one of the survivors, an African American named Lanier Phillips, from Georgia - who said that he had never before in his life experienced an act of kindness from a white person - would later declare that the generosity of the people in St. Lawrence permanently transformed his feelings for mankind and for himself. "We are creatures of what we're taught and the people of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland, taught me that I was a human being,"he later told an interviewer."

"But as war is a supreme man-made calamity, all lesser calamities of human failure are a form of war."

I agree with the following quote by Russell Wangersky, author of Whirl Away, Scotiabank Giller Prize finalist.
"Fast paced and near unstoppable, The Wake is the kind of book you can't put down. Linden McIntyre's relentless voice just won't let you stop reading, deftly showing how man and nature stacked the dice against the people of small town Newfoundland, who suffered their own form of near-Biblical plagues. The Wake will leave you shaken and angry at the ease with which real live people can become the pawns of careless powers."

"Beautifully written, both descriptively and analytically precise, and a significant contribution. " - Elliott Leyton, anthropologist and author of Dying Hard ...more

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Jul 20, 2019 ✨Brithanie Faith✨ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

4/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Wake: The Deadly Legacy Of A Newfoundland Tsunami by Linden MacIntyre is an upcoming non-fiction that focuses on November 18th, 1929- the day a tsunami struck Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula- killing 28 people, and leaving hundreds more homeless or destitute.

As a Newfoundlander I was pleasantly surprised when the opportunity to read/review a book based on the history of the province I was born and raised in came up! ...more

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Nov 10, 2019 Jack Beaton rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Corporate greed and desperate government is a bad combination and the mining industry continues this MO, in Nova Scotia and around the world. This book tells the painful story.
But the personal touch, the Conversations with the Dead, made this book a beauty.

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Aug 16, 2020 Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bingo, newfoundland, canadian, nonfiction

This book is devastating in so many respects. The shock of the tsunami, though tragic, has long since worn off for me - it’s a favourite among elementary kids for heritage fair projects. However, the plight of all Newfoundlanders in the years before confederation, and the uninformed attitudes of outsiders towards them, had me welling up. Then to learn of the terrible history of mining in St. Lawrence was both appalling and deeply upsetting. Such tragedy is difficult to fathom.

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May 18, 2020 Orla Hegarty rated it really liked it

Shelves: newfoundland-cfa-reading-list

I have been living in my small outport Newfoundland community since 2013. I am a Toronto transplant. I like to say the wind blew me here but that's the elevator version.

The local school in my community was demolished sometime in the late 90s or so. I have often been asked, "did I see a picture of it?" "It was beautiful." "Solid structure." "Shame it is gone." A few months ago a local older man told me with bursting pride that he was one of the first attendees at this school in the 60s and it ha ...more

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May 08, 2020 Natasha Penney rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I worked at The Southern Gazette in Marystown on the Burin Peninsula and I covered the 70th anniversary of the tsunami. This story as so familiar, and yet so in-depth even with my knowledge of the area and its history. It kept me engaged right through to the end. I appreciated the attention to the context of Newfoundland and Great Britain’s political and economic woes at the time. Greed, desperation and a perfect storm of natural and economic disasters have certainly left a lasting legacy in my ...more

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Oct 10, 2019 Brandon rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: oh-canada, 2019, non-fiction

On November 2nd, 1929 a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck deep in the water off the coast of Atlantic Canada. While it would only shake for a few moments, the real damage would follow shortly. A destructive tsunami would batter St. Lawrence, a small fishing village on the southwestern coast of Newfoundland. In the end, twenty eight people would lose their lives and a town would suffer unimaginable loss. When all was said and done, one hundred and twenty eight thousand kilos of salt cod would v On November 2nd, 1929 a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck deep in the water off the coast of Atlantic Canada. While it would only shake for a few moments, the real damage would follow shortly. A destructive tsunami would batter St. Lawrence, a small fishing village on the southwestern coast of Newfoundland. In the end, twenty eight people would lose their lives and a town would suffer unimaginable loss. When all was said and done, one hundred and twenty eight thousand kilos of salt cod would vanish effectively destroying the livelihoods of the townsfolk. With Newfoundland already in a financial crisis, this would only further strain an island struggling to feed its inhabitants

While also achieving success as a novelist, Linden MacIntyre had previously made his name as an investigative journalist working for CBC television’s The Fifth Estate. Given his long and storied career in the news media, it isn’t a shock the depth of research he undertook to produce a book of this scope. MacIntyre had to dig deep to find first-hand accounts of the disaster that took place nearly ninety years ago. The stories told of the water retreating - visuals of fishing boats resting on the ocean floor - before the massive twenty foot wave’s arrival were horrifying. MacIntyre does an incredible job piecing together the events of that night as men and women fought for their lives against the uncaring destruction of mother nature.

While MacIntyre excellently conveys the horror of the events of that night, the true horror lies in what unfolds following the disaster. With the town’s tent pole industry no longer viable, a man arrives in town with a plan: open a mine; and with villagers living on the dole ($1.80 a month), what choice do they have but take the first job available? MacIntyre describes the damn near criminal conditions the employees were forced to work under while also making note of the infrequency of paychecks. Miners were breathing in copious amounts of dust and dirt, destroying their lungs in the process. To make matters worse, there wasn’t even a proper doctor in town let alone a hospital.

What I said above is just scratching the surface with regards to the scope of this book. MacIntyre also touches on the depths of civilian poverty juxtaposed with the extent of government corruption by those in power, Newfoundland’s inadvertent role in the Manhattan Project and a seaside rescue mission. There’s so much more to this book than just the wave and rather than digging deeper in my review, I’ll let you discover it yourself.

The Wake is one of the best books I’ve read so far this year and I easily expect to see it land on my top five reads of 2019. ...more

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Jan 20, 2020 ❀ Susan G rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020-reads, signed-copies

It is hard to believe that tsunami in Newfoundland is a piece of history that most Canadians are not aware of. The Wake describes the terrible tsunami, which was the aftermath of an earthquake, and then reaches far beyond that fateful day when 28 individuals, many of which were children, were swept to sea along with houses, wharves, boats and their livelihoods. The fishing industry was decimated.

What happened next was worse, mining which caused a legacy of cancers and lung disease, wiping out g ...more

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Jan 20, 2020 Lana Shupe rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Linden MacIntyre once again proves his superior ability to provide us with excellent and well researched facts while weaving a story among the lines. I can not tell you how many times I uttered the words "I did not know" while reading this book. I can not tell you how horrible I felt at my ignorance of such a tragedy playing out during my lifetime. I kept thinking why do I know so much about the Halifax Explosion and know nothing of this story.
"The Dread" is something referred to in this book to ...more

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Feb 10, 2020 Golfergirl rated it liked it · review of another edition

I gave this book 3 stars. The author brought to light an overlooked or ignored tragedy for the people of this community. The style of writing was rather like a documentary. I must confess I did not finish reading this book. I read about 80% but found it became repetitive. However it is so disappointing that the government was made aware of their problems but took years (and lives lost) to act. And then it was likely too little too late. I admire the strength of the residents and the courage of t ...more

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Jan 09, 2020 Elizabeth Young rated it liked it · review of another edition

I love anything about Newfoundland. I love disaster books. This book has everything I love. However, I am very dispointed in the quality of the writing. I have enjoyed most of mcintyres books. But I felt as though he felt he had to pad the story with frequent repetition of incidents and reflections. There was a lot of unnecessary jumping around in time. Endless forewarnings but not getting to it. Very strange.

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Dec 27, 2019 Louise rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, canadian

Great read, although it is more about the St-Lawrence mining industry than it is about the tsunami.

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Apr 09, 2020 Dean Jobb rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Twenty-seven people who died in November 1929 when an undersea earthquake unleashed towering tsunamis on Newfoundland's isolated Burin Peninsula, shattering houses and fishing gear and wiping out livelihoods. It was the first of two disasters to befall the hardscrabble region. The other was human-made – mines established in the community of St. Lawrence to extract the mineral fluorspar, which offered jobs and hope to unemployed fishermen. Radiation and dust slowly killed hundreds of them. “It st ...more

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Feb 20, 2020 Sarah Boon rated it liked it · review of another edition

This is a story that starts with a tsunami and ends with the death of many men from poor conditions wile mining. In between it covers the struggles of communities on the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland to make ends meet with limited jobs and resources. I thought it was a fascinating look into Newfoundland history, as I didn't realize how impoverished these communities were even into the 1960s. There was a bit too much archival detail - sometimes it read like a book of facts. But there was no den ...more

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Oct 23, 2019 Mark Edlund rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Canadian history - OK. A story like this in the States would be at least a made for TV movie and there would be statues everywhere. Who knew there was a tsunami hitting the Newfoundland coast in 1929? I sure didn't. The story of bravery and perseverance of the survivors is amazing. And then an early "Come From Away" story where these same folks rescue American sailors as their ships sunk off the coast. At least the Americans remembered and built at hospital in St. Lawrence.
The following results ...more

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Nov 19, 2019 Pam rated it liked it · review of another edition

While the topic was very interesting, the author's story telling style did not jive with me at all. I found myself skipping repetitive paragraphs, and losing track of the timeline of events often. I ended up referring to online resources to get a better picture of events. Oh, and a heads up to any unassuming future reader... this book is more about politics than anything else. ...more

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May 31, 2020 Noelle Walsh rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, newfoundland

This is one of those books that should be mandatory reading for anyone from Newfoundland, anyone with connections to Newfoundland and history buffs in general. I for one got a much deeper understanding of the 1929 tsunami that affected the Burin Peninsula and struck so close to home. I also got an education about the aftermath, and how much it affected the people long afterward in relation to the mining that began. I felt so angry at the government and those in charge of allowing such horrible c ...more

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Jan 26, 2020 Polly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, non-fiction, historical, worth-re-reading

Poor Newfoundland. This is the story of all the terrible things that can happen to people in a place with nothing. Most of this happened while Newfoundland was still struggling along on its own, and honestly, it mostly happened because of that. People with no resources in a place where the only previous resource has disappeared are desperate. And so they gamble with what they have, which is their lives.
Very engaging and sad and horrible. Good book, wretched but all-too common story.

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Feb 06, 2020 Susan Quenneville rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I gave this book the best shot I possibly could. I’m disappointed to say that apart from the first few chapters explaining the earthquake, subsequent tsunami and devastation they caused, I found the rest of Linden MacIntyre’d book long and tedious. I honestly tried but to no avail...

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Jan 07, 2020 Jenna R rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

Interesting but repetitive.

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Mar 16, 2020 Zach rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The Wake is Linden MacIntyre's very personal exploration of the 1929 Newfoundland Tsunami that destroyed a number of poor communities along the Burin Peninsula, which was followed a few years later by the opening of a few fluorspar mines around those same fragile communities.

I say personal because MacIntyre's family has a history in St. Lawrence on the Burin Peninsula and his father worked in the fluorspar mines in the 1960s. But the motivation for this book extends beyond his family connection The Wake is Linden MacIntyre's very personal exploration of the 1929 Newfoundland Tsunami that destroyed a number of poor communities along the Burin Peninsula, which was followed a few years later by the opening of a few fluorspar mines around those same fragile communities.

I say personal because MacIntyre's family has a history in St. Lawrence on the Burin Peninsula and his father worked in the fluorspar mines in the 1960s. But the motivation for this book extends beyond his family connection and in to some very prescient themes that are very relevant in the world today, specifically in Newfoundland itself.

The descriptions of the events during the tsunami are haunting. Houses being carried in to the cold Atlantic ocean with families still inside, their screams being heard by neighbours and family members still on shore. The ocean doesn't care who gets swallowed up in it; men, women, and children all perished in the ocean or from exposure in the cold winter air afterwards.

But the disaster in November 1929 is just the beginning of this story of the Burin Peninsula. In the aftermath of the tsunami, the cod stocks around the peninsula, which were a lynchpin of the economy, seemed to be largely emptied out. Most of the population in the area were living on the dole and the generally large families were living off the bare minimum or less in food and supplies.

In to this dire situation comes Walter Seibert, a New York businessman who hears of the possibilty of opening fluorspar mines on the Burin Peninsula, fluorspar being an important mineral the smelting of steel and aluminium. Seibert comes to Newfoundland with the proposition of giving the people of Newfoundland work digging the mines, with the catch that he won't be able to pay them full salaries initially. The desperate Newfoundlanders really have no choice but to accept this offer. While the work and promise of pay seem good to start, things start looking dire once again as the prospect of getting paid seems to be less and less as time moves on. And men begin getting mysterious illnesses in the mines because of the horrible working conditions and lack of regulations from the government and corporations.

This is a very well researched book by Linden. Family life, government drama, business intrigue,
and scientific inquiry are all presented in fine detail and in a very unique prose that at times feels like a novel or a dream, and at other times feels like a more historical account. There are interspersed throughout the book some "Conversations With The Dead", which are kind of internalized conversations that Linden has with his Mother and Father and bring a very personal connection to the story of the Burin Peninsula.

The Wake is a very grim book and Linden himself has said that finishing it didn't exactly bring him a lot of joy. So many of the families affected by the tsunami were the same families who ended up being affected by the mines. And their situation is seemingly never a peaceful one throughout the 20th century. The situation of businessmen with ideas of making profits at the cost of the land and people in Newfoundland are obviously still happening today. ...more

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Feb 26, 2020 Tania P rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

As a Newfoundlander, it was heart wrenching to read of the tragedy of the tsunami being followed by the colossal greed of an outsider. His utter lack of care for the hardworking and kind hearted souls who dove into helping start up his fluorspar mine after the tsunami wiped out their families and livelihood (fishing), made my blood boil. And compounding the horrible conditions and dangers in the mines, were years of political bungling and ignorance when it came to any kind of oversight of the mi As a Newfoundlander, it was heart wrenching to read of the tragedy of the tsunami being followed by the colossal greed of an outsider. His utter lack of care for the hardworking and kind hearted souls who dove into helping start up his fluorspar mine after the tsunami wiped out their families and livelihood (fishing), made my blood boil. And compounding the horrible conditions and dangers in the mines, were years of political bungling and ignorance when it came to any kind of oversight of the mining practices under Walter Seibert. My heart feels heavy now, knowing of the horrific losses heaped upon generations in the Burin peninsula. It all seems so senseless and cruel. So many young men’s lives cut short by work related illness, so little compensation, and in true Newfoundland fashion this happened with little complaint, much stoicism, and a determination to carry on. I can’t help but wonder how comfortably the Seibert family is living today and do they sleep well at night knowing the destruction their father/grandfather wrought on the kind people of Newfoundland? Do they know how horribly he altered the human landscape of that rugged, beautiful place?

Two excerpts from the book really stuck out for me, and they are as follows:

Page 117 - “Newfoundland was, the climate notwithstanding, a warm and exotic place. From the moment they [Seibert and Poynter] disembarked they’d found friendly faces, unselfish curiosity, an English dialect that was curiously accented and peppered with vocabulary and expressions and syntax that defied immediate interpretation. The people of the south coast were obviously poor, and now that he knew more about the recent history [of the tsunami], Poynter was amazed by the forbearance, the absence of complaint. He was determined that as he and Walter Seibert prospered, so too would these worthy people.” And now, having read the book all the way through, I’m sad to say that this never came to pass.

Page 329 - “Distant capitalists still exercise extraordinary power over vulnerable lives in remote places most of them have never heard of, don’t care about, privately consider to be ‘shitholes’.” It was infuriating to read some of the commentary from the correspondence of the early governing Brits in Newfoundland. Their arrogance and assumptions about the Newfoundland people were shocking, though I suppose not surprising. Add to this, the power that Seibert held over this population that had endured the tragedy of the tsunami. They were desperate and he prayed upon that in order to make a profit. The lengths the Newfoundlanders went to in order to help get Seibert’s mining operation going were not appreciated, acknowledged or properly compensated. It was a horrible abuse of a desperate population. ...more

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Apr 10, 2020 Thomas J rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I guess I'll give it five stars for being a Canadian story with interesting subject matter; the writing is good too, although he jumps around a bit.

Hmm...how much to write here without retelling the whole story? The beginning was an earthquake on November 18, 1929 (3 weeks after the stock market crash, coincidentally) on the edge of the continental shelf offshore from Newfoundland. The quake caused an underwater landslide which in turn sent a tsunami straight at the Burin peninsula, ultimately k I guess I'll give it five stars for being a Canadian story with interesting subject matter; the writing is good too, although he jumps around a bit.

Hmm...how much to write here without retelling the whole story? The beginning was an earthquake on November 18, 1929 (3 weeks after the stock market crash, coincidentally) on the edge of the continental shelf offshore from Newfoundland. The quake caused an underwater landslide which in turn sent a tsunami straight at the Burin peninsula, ultimately killing 28 people and destroying the homes and businesses of hundreds of others. And also effectively destroying the local fishery and therefore the economy.

Enter and American entrepreneur wanting to mine the local fluorspar deposits, said to be some of the richest in the world. And a local labour force that's among the poorest in the developed world, many living on the dole which then was $1.85 a month. Yep, you read that correctly.

So they were happy to have jobs in the mine, even though the pay was low and usually more promised than real. And the mine conditions were terrible - poor ventilation, no safety equipment, high dust levels and high radon levels.

Eventually many miners would die in their late 40s or early 50s from the conditions. And a long battle with an uncaring government for compensation, let alone regulations regarding working conditions.

There's more - there's the early morning rescue of sailors from two American warships that ran aground in February 1942. The US Navy was both appreciative and also surprised by the lack of a hospital in the area. Although it took several years, eventually the US Congress approved $400,000 to build a hospital in St. Lawrence, in 1954. Many local miners eventually died there.

The strength and resilience of Newfoundlanders, the crookedness of NFLD politicians, the unwillingness of government to do its job to protect the people (as a career bureaucrat myself I recognize that situation, although I have never understood it), and the willingness of so called entrepreneurs to exploit people - all are themes in the book. And the dedication of men who worked at whatever was available, costing them their health, to look after their families. (Eventually it was the wives who blockaded the harbour until working conditions were improved!!

An excellent book - an amazing piece of Canadian and Newfoundland history.

Tom

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Dec 23, 2020 Susan Brunner rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This book’s full title is The Wake: The deadly Legacy of a Newfoundland Tsunami. I have read a lot of history, but I must admit I have read little about Newfoundland. This book was an eye opener into some of the history of the Island. This is a vivid and heartbreaking story from this island. It was well written and interesting to read. Of course, like a lot of other people, I saw the play, Come from Away.

This book is about ghastly stores from Newfoundland of a tsunami, rescue at sea, and cancer ...more

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Feb 08, 2020 Heather Kidd rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fascinating-window-into-the-past, makes-you-think

This book about the Tsunami that hits the southern coast of Newfoundland the evening of November 18, 1929 is a fascinating read at times. So much history I didn’t know. The book tells of the tragedy that massive wave brought upon poor, isolated communities and the aftereffects that were spawned. There was the start up of mining for fluorspar that the people turned to because the fish didn’t return in sufficient numbers. There was the bravery of the townspeople to save the sailors off 2 ships wre ...more

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Sep 29, 2020 Anne Simonot rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Oh, this book struck so close to home for me. As a Newfoundlander by birth, who’s lived for 40 years on the prairies, I still have a soft spot for my beautiful home province, still miss the ocean. McIntyre’s story of the aftermath of disaster, the disappearance of the fish, the economic salvation mining seemed to represent for the south coast of the island, was really beautifully told. A difficult, hardscrabble life — no wonder the men of the Burin Peninsula were willing to work for nothing. Pro ...more

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Jan 17, 2020 Barbara rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This story is so representative of the challengers facing Newfoundlanders throughout their history, although it’s specifically about the small community of St Lawrence on the Burin Peninsula. It begins with the 1929 tsunami that not only killed a number of people and washed away houses, but also seems to have been responsible for the end of fishing in the area. Looking for any source of income, the men were easy victims of an American speculator who talked them into working for free to dig a flu ...more

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Jan 31, 2020 AmandaMagdic Magdic rated it liked it · review of another edition

I was so excited when this book finally came in from the library as I’d been on the hold list about 3 months for it. I’m usually a pretty big non fiction fan and have several slated for this year, but was really dissapointed in this book.
Telling the tale of the devastating tsunami that struck the southern coast of Newfoundland in late 1929 and the subsequent unforeseen consequences and aftermath that would change the shape of the province. From the economic insecurity due to a corrupted, affecte ...more

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Jan 17, 2021 smalltownbookmom rated it liked it · review of another edition

Writing in the vein of Erik Larson (Dead wake, Isaac’s storm, etc) this book is a meticulously researched look at the people and economy of Newfoundland as they survive one disaster after another (a tsunami, an earthquake, the decline of the fishing industry and later the mining industry). Throughout it all the people of Newfoundland do their best in much less than ideal circumstances (so many sons and fathers died young from illnesses or accidents directly related to mining). I really enjoyed l ...more

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Feb 02, 2020 Tony Scott rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020

Very well written. This story of a town close to where I grew up had lots of history that I had only known peripherally. Personally, I found the earlier portion of the book, focused on the tsunami and the ecomony of Newfoundland in the 1930s to be the most interesting part of the book; it put into perspective some of the fragments of stories and comments that I recall hearing from my grandparents when I was young and didn't know or care enough to pay real attention. That portion of the book alon ...more

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About Linden MacIntyre

Linden MacIntyre

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Linden MacIntyre is the co-host of the fifth estate and the winner of nine Gemini Awards for broadcast journalism. His most recent book, a boyhood memoir called Causeway: A Passage from Innocence won both the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction and the Evelyn Richardson Prize for Non-Fiction.