The Donoghue Girl
Historical Fiction
Pub date: September 19, 2024
5 x 8.5 in | 324 pgs
Trade Paperback: 9781988989846
ePub: 9781988989853
"Truly resonant literature takes you to a time and place and makes you feel at home, and The Donoghue Girl does exactly that. Kim Fahner has finely crafted an enchanting novel that intimately explores a community and way of life often overlooked in Canadian history and letters. The authenticity and tenderness at the core of these characters will pull you in and enrich your perspective. As someone who now calls Sudbury home, I’m proud and thrilled to see this novel represent a part of this community’s story."
—Waubgeshig Rice, author of Moon of the Turning Leaves
“The Donoghue Girl transports readers to a Northern Ontario mining town in the late 1930s. Cinematic in scope, as well as emotionally intimate, Fahner’s debut novel is a moving portrayal of the Donoghues, an Irish Catholic family, with special focus on middle sister Lizzie, the “feisty” one. This passionate and beautifully written story explores the challenges that arise in family dynamics, often blurring the line between actions unbidden and by choice. Filled with cutting insights and astute observations, this is a gorgeous read.”
—Catherine Graham, author of Quarry and The Most Cunning Heart
"I loved spending time in Kim Fahner's northeastern Ontario of the 1920s and 30s, brought vividly to life with her poet's pen in her debut novel The Donoghue Girl. Following the tumultuous relationship between feisty Lizzie Donoghue and troubled miner Michael Power, this story is an ode to place and a smart consideration of the limitations of choice in a time ruled by dangerous work, impending war, and binding gender roles. It left me thinking, longing for that Ontario landscape, and holding Lizzie in my heart... "
—Lauren Carter, author of Places Like These
Longing for a life bigger than the one she inhabits, Lizzie Donoghue thinks she’s found a simple escape route in Michael Power, but soon discovers that she might have been mistaken…
The Donoghue Girl is the story of Lizzie Donoghue, the spirited daughter of Irish immigrants who desperately wants to not only escape Creighton—the Northern Ontario mining town where her family runs a general store—but also the oppressive confines of twentieth century patriarchy. She believes her escape can be found in Michael Power, the handsome young mine manager recently arrived in Creighton from the Ottawa Valley.
Caught up in a complex familial love triangle, Michael first courts Lizzie’s older sister, Ann, but then finds himself more and more drawn to Lizzie. Their lives twist and turn as they are all forced to face the harsh reality of the broken expectations of marriage and family just before the onset of WWII in Europe.
This is Lizzie’s story, from beginning to end, and readers will fall in love with her bright spirit as she comes to realize her true strength.
About the Author
Kim Fahner lives and writes in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. She has published two chapbooks, You Must Imagine the Cold Here (Scrivener, 1997) and Fault Lines and Shatter Cones (Emergency Flash Mob Press, 2023), as well as five full books of poetry, including: braille on water (Penumbra Press, 2001), The Narcoleptic Madonna (Penumbra Press, 2012), Some Other Sky (Black Moss Press, 2017), These Wings (Pedlar Press, 2019), and Emptying the Ocean (Frontenac House, 2022). Kim is the First Vice-Chair of The Writers' Union of Canada (2023-25), a full member of the League of Canadian Poets, and a supporting member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada. She was Poet Laureate for the City of Greater Sudbury from 2016-18.
