Harps of God

By Kent Stetson

Arising from official transcripts of survivor's testimony before two commissions of enquiry into the Great Newfoundland Sealing Disaster, The Harps of God develops themes of human survival in the face of profound personal devastation.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0887546064
• ISBN13: 9780887546068
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: Playwrights Canada Press
• Length: 80 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 0.5" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

I Heard the Music in The Harps of God

The Harps of God is a poignant tale of a disaster which befell a crew of seal fishermen in 1914 off the coast of Newfoundland. The story, told in the form of a play, is much more than a disaster story though. It is a story of family relationships, a story of friends, a story of death, and most of all, a story of survival. Kent Stetson is a wonderfully lyrical storyteller. I was held by the same icy wind which held the sealers in its grip, and I simply could not put the book down. Included are the Authour's Acknowledgements, Preface, and Introduction, Author's Afterwords, and excerpts from the ships logs on the days in question. All this history and personal information, including how the play was performed in the open air on a beach in Newfoundland, under a rainy sky, helps the reader to feel uniquely involved in the story, and to feel the irony and the great loss of life. The one criticism I have is that Mr. Stetson did not include a list of names of all those who lost their life on the ice. Wonderful, powerful, lyrical, moving. Well worth 5 stars.