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Andrea Curtis, Into the Blue book cover
2004: Andrea Curtis, Into the Blue

2004: Andrea Curtis, Into the Blue

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Description

Every family has a story, passed down through generations. For Andrea Curtis that story is the wreck of the SS J.H. Jones. In 1906, the late-November swells of Georgian Bay erupt into a blinding storm, sinking the Jones and claiming the lives of all on board. Left in the wake is Captain Jim Crawford’s one-year-old daughter, Eleanor, who faces a daunting future of poverty and isolation.

But Eleanor emerges from her childhood determined to leave behind the restrictions of her small town. She plunges into the excitement of Jazz-era California and 1930s Montreal, struggling to become a poet and a writer. Almost a century later, Andrea knows her grandmother Eleanor only as a sophisticated, respected Montreal matriarch. Until, while researching Jim Crawford’s role in the Jones tragedy, she discovers that Eleanor had a hidden past.

Judges' Comments

“The judges felt Into the Blue was a fine example of creative non-fiction, in which Andrea Curtis writes a language that is sure and sophisticated, beautifully lyrical,” says Staebler award administrator, Kathryn Wardropper. “This is swashbuckling romance with a light touch. It is a thoroughly credible and enjoyable book.”

Learn More

Explore the works of our previous Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction winners.

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