Black Around the Eyes - by Jeremy Akerman (Paperback)

About the Book

Donnie Ross is at the centre of this remarkable story of a coal-mining community in Cape Breton in the 1920s. Black Around the Eyes evokes the men and women, the joys and grief, and the harsh struggles of that time and place.

Book Synopsis

Diamond Donnie Ross is at the centre of this remarkable story of a coal-mining community in Cape Breton in the 1920s. Black Around the Eyes evokes the men and women, the joys and grief, the stark beauty and harsh struggles of that time and place.

This moving, searing novel, at times hilarious and at others heart-rending, has been out of print for far too long. Moose House is proud to make it available again, in a revised edition which corrects some errors in the original and includes a new foreword by the author.

Jeremy Akerman's memoir, Outsider, includes a revealing passage about the writing of Black Around the Eyes. It is also available from Moose House Publications.

Review Quotes

Nova Scotians have known for years that Jeremy Akerman was an exceptionally perceptive, intelligent and articulate critic of public folly. Black Around the Eyes reveals that he is an equally astute critic of private life, a novelist of remarkable talent.

Earthy, lyrical, angry and elegiac by turns, Black Around the Eyes is a moving and evocative report from the front lines of class warfare, a richly comic and human account of life as she is lived in the gritty, plucky coal towns of Cape Breton. It is a considerable work of art.

Silver Donald Cameron