Poor Farm

A father and his autistic son, out on a walk, find an abandoned graveyard. Who were these people, and how did they come to lie here?
  Ronan O’Driscoll unfolds the searing and uplifting tale of the poor farm at Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, its staff and inmates.

"I enjoyed the book very much and devoured it in three reads. The first chapter grabs one's attention so strongly and is written so heartbreakingly beautifully, it immediately draws the reader in. The attention to historic detail both from a folkloric and factual perspective is laudable. Helen Creighton would have been pleased to see some of the songs she collected used in such a sympathetic manner."
- Clary Croft, author of Witchcraft, Helen Creighton: Canada’s first lady of folklore, and other books

"I’m a writer-researcher with a particular interest in poor houses. This book made me cry...and then gave me hope. Ronan O’Driscoll puts the reader right in the poor farm. You can see it, smell it,experience it."
- Brenda Thompson, author of A Wholesome Horror: poor houses of Nova Scotia
 
240 pages, 5x8 paperback.
Due to release in June, 2021