Shipping News by Annie Proulx tells the story of Quoyle, a man who begins the book naive, buffeted by life, and passive, but by the end has earned his place in a small town in Newfoundland. Quoyle, unsure of himself and troubled by his looks, allows the ups and downs of life to toss him without resistance. Eventually he marries, but his wife, Petal, is unfaithful. In the ultimate act of her selfishness she sells their two daughters, Bunny and Sunshine, to a pervert, but they are returned to Quoyle after Petal's death in a fiery car accident. Aided by his Aunt Agnis, he takes his family to live in the Quoyle homestead near Killick-Claw, Newfoundland, Canada, to start anew.

In Killick-Claw he works for the town newspaper, gaining self-confidence and writing skills, learning the foreign ways of the fishermen and their wives. He meets Wavey, a widow, and slowly...
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