I picked up this book in a small gift shop in Nova Scotia. It was snapshot in words and the characters from places just visited came alive with down to earth creative writing. The stories may appeal more to men than women with gutsy descriptions of high school girls in love with the "other guy" or the husband watching his sleeping lover and thinking of his wife and child. And yet, you can help yorself from feeling a genuine warm spot for the "everyman" hero. The author says more in ten pages than some say in a novel. Try it...you'll like it!

Innovative; great ideas, values and philosophy; a series of very short stories, linked together by a central idea. A very special book, to make you laugh, to make you cry, to make you think and ponder. Very original.

Though I can say exactly why, but if you've read "Colony of unrequited dreams", then you may like this one. Down east theme, oddball characters.

We had to do this book in my grade 12 english class. Unlike most school books, whcih are often boring and tedious, this one kept us interested and we therefor did good on the tests :)

I recommend it.

While the history covers the full length of Nova Scotia's history, it is very anecdotal in nature. As a result I found it very disjointed. The lack of a map was also keenly felt. Even though Choyce often supports his theme of the great influence of the sea on Nova Scotia, the gaps in the narrative greatly weaken the impact. If you want a series of short excerpts of Nova Scotia's history, I can recommend this book. However, it is not up to giving much insight into the why of the province's history.

I am planning a trip to Nova Scotia this summer and was surprised at the dearth of informative books about the province. This work was all I came across that appeared to be likely to give me some background that would enhance my trip. I have thoroughly enjoyed it. In addition to providing an insightful history the book is quite entertaining. The only addition I would wish for would be a good map.

Lesley Choyce is a novelist, not a historian -- something that shows through in Nova Scotia: Shaped by the Sea. The book is well written and gives a compelling portrait of this corner of Atlantic Canada, but at times the history seems to barely dent the surface.

Arranged in 45 short (usually four- to five-page) chapters, Choyce covers Nova Scotia from the geologic prehistory of the land through European colonization and into the fish wars of the 1990s. Throughout it all he manages to strike a nice balance between veneration of important historical figures and lamentation of the wrongs imposed upon the environment, Native Americans and others.

Although Choyce obviously doesn't love everything that has been done by the people of Nova Scotia over time, he does love the province -- something that shines through in the brief historical vignettes of this book.

It was not bad but it was not very good either.Most people would like it if they were in the right mind.