The Shining Fragments

by Robin Blackburn McBride

The Shining Fragments is a family saga about the Irish in Canada that explores the ramifications of abandonment, obsession, love, memory, and visionary power. Spanning the years 1882-1904, it follows Joseph Conlon from his early childhood in Ulster to his experiences of youth and adulthood as an immigrant. Left behind as a small boy on a Toronto train-station platform like so much forgotten luggage, Joseph grows up in a city bleak with bigotry. He discovers that he has artistic talent and becomes a designer of stained-glass windows. He is haunted by the spirit of his unborn sister, Annie, and the powerful and often conflicting influences of the women in his life. In the end Joseph must come to terms on the same ground where he was abandoned as a child.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

290 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2018

About the author

Robin Blackburn McBride is a Canadian novelist, poet and coach. For over twenty years she worked as a teacher in Toronto, and before that, as an actress. Robin holds degrees in English, Drama and Education from the University of Toronto. Her first novel, The Shining Fragments, was published by Guernica Editions in 2018 and recognized as an Editors’ Choice book by the Historical Novel Society in North America. Her self-help book, Birdlight: Freeing Your Authentic Creativity, became an Amazon Best Seller in 2016 and has since been released as an Audible audiobook. In 2002, Guernica published a volume of her poetry, In Green.

Robin has an enduring passion for the arts, local history, and intergenerational family stories. While doing research for The Shining Fragments, she made two trips to Northern Ireland where some of her ancestors lived before coming to Canada. Beyond writing, Robin's projects have included drawing, painting, collage and gardening. She is an activist for social justice and environmental causes—in particular, the preservation of old growth forests. Robin lives with her husband and their cat in Gatineau, Quebec, where she is at work on a sequel to The Shining Fragments.

Meet Robin on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/rgbmcbride/

Reviews

[♥ Sandi ❣]

2.5 stars rounded up to 3 Thank you to NetGalley and Guernica Editions for allowing me to read and review this ARC. Publishes October 1, 2018.

Sadly I was not impressed by this book. I thought the premise sounded really good and the prologue gave me hope that it would be a really good book. However, as I continued to read I felt that the story was fragmented, it just did not read smoothly. It seemed to dart from one idea to another, often within the same paragraph, expecting the reader to understand the subject of the changing sentences. Many times over I was fully lost. The author kept returning to the overall premise, enough that you hoped that the story would finally come together, but that never happened for me. The ending did try to pull the most relevant parts of the story together, but by then it was too late. I had given up on making any sense of this story long before that final feeble attempt.

[Kirsten]

A compelling and heart-warming story that transported me back in time and into the story of Joseph Conlon, an Irish orphan who journeys from his homeland to Canada to start a new life. His journey begins as one of great loss and emotional trauma as he is thrust suddenly into a life of adult decision making and the need to grow up all too soon. The historical settings of the time are portrayed beautifully and the story rich with colourful characters that highlighted how experiences of the past often influence behaviours and life patterns, relationships with others, hopes and fears – a poignant reminder of the human experience across time. I particularly loved the subtlety of Joseph’s spiritual connection to Annie, and its relation to the mystery and wonder of life itself. While it took the first few chapters to settle into the rhythm and style of the storytelling, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and McBride’s ability to capture and create a sense of authentic human attachment and belonging. The ending left me smiling from ear to ear, covered in goosebumps and absolutely wanting more. A fabulous read.

[Helen]

I read The Shining Fragments this week… really liked it! Great story & characters! Set in Northern Ireland and Toronto at the turn of the (20th) century, the story really comes alive as do the lives of the characters.

[Rick]

Shining Fragments, is an adult general fiction account of the trials and tribulations of the Irish immigrating to Canada in the late 1800’s. The protagonist Joseph Conlon, a resilient 8 year-old lad, boards a ship in Northern Ireland with his mother and sister but ends up growing up on his own in Toronto, Canada. The Shining Fragments is Robin Blackburn MacBride’s first novel, which she adds to her previously published self-help ebook (Birdlight) and poetry book (In Green).

“Mam died on the third day of the crossing. After that Joseph stayed in the dark…”

Joseph is left with his sister Coleen on the first line of Chapter 1. Soon after this he is separated from Coleen and spends his life growing up in an environment that is inhospitable for both his nationality and his religion. Through the help of his friends and the people he loves he learns to survive and to find his place. With age he even starts to understand the influences that make him the man he becomes.

McBride does an excellent job of portraying Joseph Conlon. I have to admit that I don’t like him. He continually makes himself a victim. When given opportunities he walks away from them. He focuses on himself primarily and does not treat those closest to him very well. He is very much a follower and is extremely lucky that the people around him lead him down the right path. McBride receives my accolades because she managed to make me really dislike Joseph without overtly making him out to be the bad guy.

There is an overall sadness about the book that I feel doesn’t break even as the book closes. Again McBride does an excellent job of leading one toward this feeling without dwelling on tearful events that make it obvious why one should feel depressed.

I recommend this book to people who like emotional stories. Life can be hard for some and they still do alright. I want to thank NetGalley and Guernica Editions for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

[Charlotte]

It is perhaps only the shining fragments of one's childhood that persist into adulthood. The defining memories, the stand-out moments; the instilled values that shape and equip you. And so it is for Joseph Conlon. Abandoned following an arduous voyage from Ireland to Toronto in the 1800s, the book opens with him as a young boy rocking and crying alone at Union Station as the passage intended for four, culminates with him all alone and with nowhere to go. This child is gripped by overriding visions and dreams of his mother's lost child Annie, the weight of his father's confidence in him and the teachings of the Irish legends handed down by word of mouth from his Uncle. Passing from Catholic orphanage to the shelter of companionship and then (as a result of questionable fortune) under the watchful eye of a repentant benefactor who recognises Joseph's artistic talents aswell as a responsibility to see him right, the reader experiences Master Conlon's struggle to raise himself to a high enough level to meet his own expectations.
However, far greater than any physical torments are the tortuous leanings of Joseph's own conscience: haunted by a multitude of wrongdoings including-his mother's demise, his sister's adoption, his friend's prostitution and his faltering faith, Constantly, he chides and judges himself in pursuit of improvement. Even his wife senses it; "Do you think we're being punished Joseph?"
Unusually (and refreshingly) McBride's protagonist encounters mainly 'good' (though not always virtuous) souls on his journey, and it is this (as well as the vivid sense of time and place) that most endeared me to this tale.
The story glittered and was an absolute honour to read. Thank you.

[Kristine Morris]

As a local Toronto history enthusiast reading Shining Fragments was a bit surreal because it was like reading my own historical research come to life in a novel format. So much of what I've learned over the past 3 years researching the history of Lombard Street found its way into the pages of this book. The St. Nicholas Institute, the orphanage for newsprint boys on Lombard Street, the discrimination against the Irish Catholics, prostitution on the streets of Toronto at the turn of the century, temperance, and the fire of 1904.

Within pages of the book I was caught surprised, pleasantly, to find that it so lyrical. At times heartbreaking to read because Joseph is such a tragic figure (no doubt his story accurately depicts thousands more of young orphan children on the streets of late 19th century Toronto). Abandoned by every female in his life, he holds his hurts so deep and burrows deeper and deeper within himself - you can hear his silence throughout the book. Moments of kindness - his friendship with Cho (also a social outcast), periodic encounters with Deary, a childhood and forever love, his anguished connection with Myrtle, allow you to believe that he might be saved.

The ending is masterful when Joseph is able to confront and acknowledge his most shameful truth and is then able to return to Union Station for the first time since he was left there as a boy, where the story began and where he is given the gift of redemption - Annie.

[Elaine Lindsay]

An enjoyable and touching look at historic Toronto through the eyes of an immigrant child left to fend for himself. With only a few young souls like himself to count on, the road is difficult at best. Through many heart rending trials, the boy grows to be a man, suffers much trauma and yet pulls through and finds salvation along the way. A most unexpected ending, left me wanting more.

Looking forward to seeing more from this author.

[Jessica McCann]

The historical detail and sense of place in this book was impressive. I also enjoyed the author's unique writing style and gift for metaphor. The story had a strong pull during the first third or more. However, for my taste, the story was too morose overall and I had trouble sticking with it. If you enjoy literary fiction with mystical and religious themes, and a strong melancholy undercurrent, THE SHINING FRAGMENTS is a worthy read.

[K.R. Wilson]

In Robin Blackburn McBride’s evocative THE SHINING FRAGMENTS, Irish legends and High Church imagery illuminate the story of an orphan’s coming-of-age in Victorian Toronto, his induction into the art of stained glass, and his longing for the muses of his youth.

[Amy Rhoda Brown]

Technically I proofread this book, I didn't just read it, but I enjoyed it very much as I was doing so.

[C. Fitton]

The Shining Fragments is a beautifully written story. Its meticulously researched, historical details of turn-of-the-century Toronto made me feel like I’d been transported back in time. I loved the protagonist, Irish immigrant & orphan, Joseph Conlon. His coming of age story is poignant and gripping. I also loved his spirited fellow orphan, Deary. I found Joseph’s eventual job as a designer of stained-glass windows particularly fascinating. I highly recommend this book.

[Mandy]

This is a charming and heart-warming – and sometime heart-breaking – tale of a young Irish boy who emigrates to Canada from his native Ireland. His mother dies en route and he is left to fend for himself, alone and abandoned. Spanning the years from 1882 to 1904, and set in Toronto, we follow Joseph Conlon as he comes-of-age and makes a life for himself. This so easily could have been a sentimentalised and overly-romanticised story, but the author expertly avoids the clichés of the abandoned child story by allowing Joseph to meet and be sheltered by basically well-meaning and kind adults. He’s taken to an orphanage run by nuns – but these are not the cruel nuns of so many chronicles but gentle and loving ones. Joseph turns his skill as an artist into a successful career. He makes friends. In fact, it’s often Joseph himself who makes bad choices and hurts others. It’s an emotional novel, but a believable one, and the void in Joseph’s inner life and his longing for his unborn sister Annie is hauntingly portrayed. A pleasure to read.

[Marny Gibson]

This book is beautifully written and describes Toronto in the 1880s and 90s in such detail that you can almost smell it! The characters are vivid and believable and the story pulls you in, especially at first. Somehow, though, the main character, Joseph, is not very sympathetic; he is so damaged that it is very hard to connect with him and he appears much too self-involved. However, some of the secondary characters are just wonderful: Tim, Joseph's one-eyed entrepreneurial friend; James Ramsey, his saviour and employer; Myrtle, the orphaned girl who becomes his wife; and especially young Cho who adores Joseph's stories of the Irish hero Cuchulainn. And I loved reading about familiar parts of Toronto, such as Grenadier Pond and the Don Valley and how they looked and were used a century ago. There are many interlocking themes in this book, so I recommend it to anyone who values a literary story based on strong research as opposed to a quick read.

[Leanda]

The Shining Fragments was a brilliant read. As I neared the end I had no clue as to how it would all come together and wow, it exceeded my expectations. The language, historical references, and characters all authentically portrayed the stories of that era. And aspects of these have continued to cycle through people's ancestral lineage where the same life perplexions and situations rise to the surface for purification. I look forward to the sequel!

[Heather Walrath]

Robin Blackburn McBride's masterful world-building, attention to historical detail and atmospheric writing fully immersed me in the story and made me feel as if I were right there with Joseph as he grapples with loss and strives to find his place. I especially enjoyed the elements relating to art and his connection to Annie. I look forward to seeing what this talented author will write next!

[Ginger Pollard]

This book started out as a good story, but it fell short quickly for me. It's a very quick read and some readers will enjoy it. Not my cup of tea.
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. Thank you, Netgalley.
All opinions are my own.