***THE MIRAMICHI READER'S VERY BEST BOOK AWARDS, NON-FICTION: LONGLIST***

As a young woman, the late Ella Manuel left the busy shipping community of Lewisporte, Newfoundland, for the wider world in the 1920s, but eventually returned to the island, as a single mother, to settle in Bonne Bay. An accomplished writer, broadcaster, journalist, advocate for peace, and staunch feminist, Manuel would leave an indelible mark on the culture she documented and celebrated in her work. Here, biographer Antony Berger expertly chronicles the life of Ella Manuel and incorporates unpublished radio scripts and brilliant extracts from her private journals to bring Manuel to the page in her own words. Brimming with insight and wit, No Place for a Woman? opens an illuminating window on life in twentieth-century Newfoundland, and preserves the work of a truly original Newfoundlander.

As a boy, Tony Berger spent summers in Lomond where his mother, Ella Manuel, ran a sports fishing lodge. Since then, he has been a frequent visitor to and sometime resident in Woody Point. After finishing his studies in Nova Scotia, Australia, and England, he taught geology at the University of Toronto, the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka, and Memorial University. He played a key role in founding several worldwide organizations dedicated to strengthening science in developing countries, and in the 1980s, he edited an international news journal for the earth sciences. Since then, he has been closely involved in scientific projects assessing contemporary rapid landscape change, researching the response of past societies to environmental disasters, and developing linkages between medical science and geology—soils, minerals, and water. Since retiring to Atlantic Canada, he has been involved in local community activities, including Writers at Woody Point, and has guided tours by bus across the island and by ship around the province. In the past two decades, Tony has worked closely with Gros Morne National Park, most recently in compiling and analyzing photographs that record the changing landscape of the park. He is the author of some ten scientific books and monographs and many journal articles. His international experience aside, his heart remains in Bonne Bay.

Antony Berger's profile page

• Long-listed, The Miramichi Reader's 'The Very Best!' Book Award, Non-Fiction Category
• Atlantic Books Today Staff Pick

“No Place for a Woman is an entertaining and illuminating book that ensures that the words of Ella Manuel, an independent and talented woman who fiercely loved her corner of the world, will get continued exposure—a worthy endeavour in itself.”

The Miramichi Reader

"...[A]fter his mother's death [Tony Berger] gathered her papers, and... compiled this charming book, most of it Manuel's own writing, with him contributing introductory paragraphs to most of her essays and stories, as well as a 52-page recounting of her life--the facts and his memories... While the facts are interesting, the book comes alive with Ella Manuel's writing. Her distinctive voice rings through whether she is angrily defending the seal hunt or describing the heaven on Earth that is the view from the window of the home she built (or paid others to build) in Woody Point... Manuel's radio experience translates impeccably. Her ear accurately records the words as she heard them and her hand reproduces them perfectly on the page."

The Northeast Avalon Times