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Donna Morrissey fonds Subseries
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What They Wanted

Subseries contains drafts in both electronic and hardcopy form of the novel What They Wanted by Donna Morrissey. Early drafts are titled Darkling Sea, Christ Child, and Leaving. What They Wanted explores both new and familiar terrain: a divided house on the shores of Newfoundland and the equally challenging environment of an Alberta oil rig. After Sylvanus has a heart attack, family tensions rise to the fore. Sylvie must deal with her feelings of estrangement from her mother, Addie. Meanwhile, Chris, a natural artist, frustrates his dreams by going to work on the rig. What They Wanted is a novel about guilt, responsibility, tragedy, and the enduring ties of family.

This novel is the second in the Sylvanus Now trilogy and was shortlisted for the 2009 Atlantic Independent Booksellers' Choice Award.

The Deception of Livvy Higgs

Subseries contains sixteen files of drafts at various levels of completeness for the novel The Deception of Livvy Higgs. The majority of the drafts are labelled as chapter one, but may contain pieces of other chapters. Some draft have been numbered, either in the typescript or with handwritten annotations, but not all drafts appear to be in order and some have duplicated pages. Drafts contain various titles, title suggestions, and editorial comments.

The Deception of Livvy Higgs is a book by Donna Morrissey.

For two days, Livvy Higgs is besieged by a series of small heart attacks while the ghost of her younger self leads her back through a past devastated by lies and secrets.

The story opens in Halifax in 2009, travels back to the French Shore of Newfoundland during the mid-1930s and the heyday of the Maritime shipping industry, makes its way to wartorn Halifax during the battle of the Atlantic in the Second World War, then leaps ahead to the bedside of the elderly Livvy.

Caught between a troubled past, and her present worsening living conditions, Livvy is forced to pick apart the lies and secrets told by her greedy, prideful father, Durwin Higgs, who judges her a failure, and her formidable Grandmother Creed, who has mysteriously aligned herself with Livvy's father despite their mutual hatred.

Tending to Livvy during her illness is her young next-door neighbour, Gen, a single mother, social-work student, and part-time drug dealer. Overnight, a violent scene embroils the two in each other's lives in a manner that will entwine them forever.

The Clothesline Patch

Subseries contains manuscripts of the script, short story versions, character sketches, a synopsis, and an outline of The Clothesline Patch.

Sylvanus Now

Subseries contains typescripts, drafts, manuscripts, and a sample cover of Sylvanus Now. Early drafts are titled Rocking her Babies.

Rage the Night

Subseries contains manuscripts, notes, correspondence and secondary research materials related to Rage the Night, a novel written by Donna Morrissey and published by Penguin Canada in 2023.

Pluck

Subseries contains manuscripts and correspondence for Donna Morrissey's Pluck: A Memoir of a Newfoundland Childhood and the Raucous, Terrible, Amazing Journey to Becoming a Novelist, which was published in 2021 by Penguin/Random House Canada.

Kit's Law

Subseries contains various drafts and typescripts, as well as synopses and a logline, of Kit's Law.

Downhill Chance

Subseries contains drafts, typescripts, page proofs, and a sample cover for Downhill Chance. Early drafts are titled Sea Shelters.

Cross Katie Kross

Subseries contains various electronic records related to the development and publication of Cross Katie Kross. Records include illustrations created by Bridgette Morrissey, project proposals, draft typescripts, photographs, and other materials.

Cross Katie Kross is a children’s story written by Donna Morrissey and illustrated by her daughter, Bridgette Morrissey. The main character is Katie Kross, a curmudgeonly old woman who hates just about everything. Katie becomes so fed up with life on her farm that she decides to leave her home in search of Love Valley - a beautiful, idyllic place where she can be on her own, away from tedious chores, pestering neighbours, and pesky animals. Katie’s journey leads her to learn that sometimes dreams come true in the most surprising ways.

The book was published in 2012 by Puffin Canada.