The Artificial Newfoundlander is a witty, playful, tale of contemporary St. John’s. Hugh Norman, a middle-aged English prof researching an eccentric novelist priest, is faced with the unexpected arrivals of his mysteriously unhappy daughter, her clueless husband, and an old flame ready for rekindling. Relationships morph, lines are crossed, and Hugh confronts some unpalatable but laugh-inducing dilemmas.
Larry Mathews teaches in the English department at Memorial University of Newfoundland. His short fiction has appeared in a number of journals and anthologies, and in his collection of stories The Sandblasting Hall of Fame (2003). The Artificial Newfoundlander is his first novel. He lives in St. John’s with the writer Claire Wilkshire and their children, Timothy and Sally.
