MacKenzie's Cove
256 pp, soft cover, ISBN 978-1-896496-63-4 $20 plus s&h

The Highland Clearances in the eighteenth century forced many Scottish families off their ancestral land with no choice but to flee to the New World. MacKenzie’s Cove is a fictional tale of a family that settled on the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Thrust into a climate as foreign as it was harsh, each member of this family struggled to cope and ultimately survive a battle that necessitated adapting to challenges in their religious beliefs and their acceptance of different cultures. Their changing way of life and the assistance of their Acadian neighbours allowed them to capitalize on new opportunities in North America. MacKenzie’s Cove is a heart-warming story of love, frustration, determination and adventure at sea. It is a story of strong passions and motivation, and celebrates the successes of the emigrants’ children in all fields of human endeavour in the New World.

Just for a Day or Two
284pp, soft cover, ISBN: 1-896496-55-5, $17 Cdn.

It is wartime. London is suffering from the Blitz and some of her children are sent overseas to avoid the bombs and the expected invasion. One such evacuee, Francis, from London’s East End, arrives in Great Village, Nova Scotia. He is streetwise, belligerent and engaging. He and his sponsor, a recluse, and her childhood admirer are in for changes they could never have imagined as the war invades the quiet village. The novel is set against a backdrop of fictitious village characters, saintly sinners and sinning saints who include the minister, the doctor, the postmaster and teachers.

Come and live with Francis. Go to school with him, go swimming and fishing, pick strawberries and watch him grow up. Experience Great Village as it was in the thirties and how it changes in the forties under the influence of the war and people from away. Shop at the general store, listen in on the local phone, attend church and Women’s Institute meetings, fight the almost forgotten battle of the Atlantic and celebrate VE Day. See how the villagers play the game of life as the rules change irreversibly.

About the author

Truman Layton was born and grew up in Great Village, Nova Scotia. He taught chemistry in high school and university and, after post-graduate study in London, coordinated science curriculum development with the Nova Scotia Department of Education. Early retirement led to teaching in New Zealand. He enjoys climbing Mountains in Scotland and visiting the deserted glens where his forefathers were evicted in the Highland Clearances.