HALIFAX: In Joe Howe’s Ghost, Halifax author Bretton Loney tells the story of Erin Curran, a rookie Government MLA who has a startling encounter with the ghost of Joe Howe, Nova Scotia’s most famous politician and journalist, which changes the trajectory of her career and her life.
Howe has been silently walking the halls of historic Province House for more than 150 years and Erin is the first living soul he has spoken to in all that time.
At first, it is Erin who learns from Howe, the master politician and communicator, who brought responsible government to Nova Scotia, defended free speech and bitterly opposed Confederation.
But as their friendship grows, Howe gains an appreciation of our times as Erin faces the trials of today’s politics and the unique challenges facing female MLAs—from sexist colleagues to misogynist social media trolls.
Joe Howe’s Ghost is a reflection on Howe’s tumultuous political era and of provincial politics today.
It explores the personal struggle between the desire for political power and upholding heartfelt personal convictions that are common to both eras.
Loney is a novelist and non-fiction writer who has published two previous books that were nominated for Whistler Independent Book Awards: in 2018 for his first novel, The Last Hockey Player and in 2015 for a biography, Rebel With A Cause: The Doc Nikaido Story.
His short stories have appeared in Canadian short story anthologies and literary journals, including the anthology Everything Is So Political. In 2019 “The Coulee Song”, appeared in The Group of Seven Reimagined, a collection of flash fiction stories inspired by the artists’ paintings.
A journalist for more than 20 years in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, Loney also worked in communications for the Government of Nova Scotia for 16 years.
Loney lives in Halifax with his wife, Karen Shewbridge. For more information, please see www.brettonloney.com .
