After his marriage fails Quoyle makes the decision to move to
Newfoundland because he is a failure every-where else. The
environment he has chosen is not hospitable and the only job he
can
get as a journalist is reporting the shipping movements. This
perpetual loser does, however, find a niche in this desolate corner
of the world and Proulx weaves an acceptable plot around him and
the other characters that she creates with such skill. It is
Proulx' writing that makes this such an outstanding work, the prose
is a pleasure to read, the characters make you feel you know them
and the description makes you believe you live there. Now made into
a film that is almost as good.