National Bestseller
At once the intimate tale of one man's quest to discover the truth of his birth and a riveting account of a real-life Newfoundland tragedy from 1914, brilliantly and sensitively imagined by one of Canada's most beloved and bestselling authors.

When a deathbed confession uncovers secrets about his birth, twenty-year-old Roan—who has always believed himself an orphan, with no last name—sets off on a quest to discover the truth of his origins. His journey takes him across the snow-covered landscape of Newfoundland from the remote Northern Peninsula to St. John's and then onto the Newfoundland, one of the rickety and poorly equipped ships heading out to the sealing grounds for the spring hunt.

Between his farewell to Dr. Grenfell, the man who raised, educated, and cared for Roan since his toddlerhood, and the final discovery that will alter his life forever, Roan is tossed both emotionally and physically into harrowing situations that he could never have imagined. The people Roan meets along his journey are vivid and unforgettable, from young Ila, isolated and desperate as her mother coughs her life away in a frigid cabin, to the hulking, volcanic, unknowable Ashur Genge, whose own heartbreaking secret may hold the key to Roan's deepest desire.

As Roan's personal story entwines with the historical tale of the Newfoundland disaster, it is “the b'ys”—the simple men who risk their lives year after year on the ice—their brotherhood, their resilience, their heart, and their humour that carry him through tragedy and beyond.

Rage the Night showcases Donna Morrissey's extraordinary empathy, her remarkable characters, and her unique literary voice; it is a masterwork from one of our finest storytellers.

Donna Morrissey was born in The Beaches, a small village on the northwest coast of Newfoundland that had neither roads nor electricity until the 1960s a place not unlike Haire’s Hollow, which she depicts in Kit’s Law. When she was sixteen, Morrissey left The Beaches and struck out across Canada, working odd jobs from bartending to cooking in oil rig camps to processing fish in fish plants. She went on to earn a degree in social work at Memorial University in St. Johns. It was not until she was in her late thirties that Morrissey began writing short stories, at the urging of a friend, a Jungian analyst, who insisted she was a writer. Eventually she adapted her first two stories into screenplays, which both went on to win the Atlantic Film Festival Award; one aired recently on CBC. Kit’s Law is Morrissey’s first novel, the winner of the Canadian Booksellers Association First-Time Author of the Year Award and shortlisted for many prizes, including the Atlantic Fiction Award and the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award. Morrissey lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Donna Morrissey's profile page

"A search for identity becomes a struggle to survive in a merciless place. Donna Morrissey tells a powerful story with eloquence and indelible detail—of people and a place in a time soon to be lost to living memory."
—Linden MacIntyre, award-winning author of The Bishop's Mand and The Winter Wives
"Rage the Night is as fleet and mercurial as a violent storm at sea. Morrisey has created an unforgettable character in Roan. . . . This gothic winter tale is propelled by the sublime majesty of Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland and the malevolent howl of nature echoing throughout. Think Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and Steinbeck’s East of Eden set in late the early 1900’s on the ice pans of the North Atlantic. Think hunger, greed and secrets dark and sinister as a lunar eclipse. Think plot twists as volatile as dynamite in hard-packed ice. Tie yourself to the mast. Donna Morrisey is at the top of her game."
—Lisa Moore, award-winning author of Caught and This is How We Love
"Rage the Night holds the ice and flame of secrets and shames. An ode, a testimony, a heart song of a people and place. You’ll want to wrap yourself around her characters, willing them to keep walking."
—Shandi Mitchell, award-winning author of Under this Unbroken Sky and The Waiting Hours
"Morrissey’s greatest gift as a writer is her ability to render vividly and with respect the rugged life, unique voice and humour of “The Rock” without delving into caricature. . . . The characters are well-drawn and and the story of Roan’s family an intriguing one. . . . Morrissey renders [tragedy] with chilling detail."
—Toronto Star