The Ragged Believers (Paperback or Softback)

The Seashore Boarding House, nestled in the woods on the rocky shore of Pocomoonshine Bay in the late ’twenties, is a haven for travellers on the lonely dirt road nearby, and for the villagers and workers of the woods communities, offering shelter, food, first aid, abortions, and the comforts of its girls.

At the centre of the house and its operations is the enigmatic figure of Nurse, who tells her girls, “You are nurses, as well as chamber maids, cooks, waitresses, and prostitutes.”

A naïve young lawyer, Duncan Strathearn, stumbles into this amoral world when he loses control of his car as he negotiates a forest fire. His rescuers take him to the Seashore Boarding House, where he is gradually drawn into the lives of its band of regulars, and to Jenny, one of Nurse’s girls, despite the warnings of both Jenny and Nurse that his love will not be – can never be – returned by her.

Meanwhile the new highway being pushed through the woods from the 25 mile distant city is bringing the modern world, and modern morality, ever closer to the boarding house, and Duncan finds himself at the forefront of its fight against the increasingly threatening reforming zeal of the Tabernacle of the Disciples of Fire, with its thousands of followers, among them the most influential citizens of the city.

It is Nurse’s love haunted past that is the source of both the boarding house’s success and, through strange coincidence, its downfall in the final, unexpectedly violent confrontation with the Reverend Child, the cold and calculating leader of the Disciples.

The Ragged Believers is about holding on – to a threatened way of life, to forlorn love, to lost love, and above all, to belief.

A transplant from England to New Brunswick, Canada, via the island of Newfoundland, writer, musician, photographer and teacher Robert Rayner is the author of three adult novels, nine young adult novels, and four teen novels. His stories have been shortlisted in Canada for the Brimer Prize and (four times) for the Hackmatack Award. Five have been included in the Canadian Children's Book Centre 'Best Books' list, and one on the U.S. Young Adult Library Services Association 'Best Books to get Teens Reading' list. He lives on the Magaguadavic River in St. George, New Brunswick. Praise for Robert Rayner ..".Raising questions of ethics in love, family, business, and politics, and doing so through characters coping with everything from sexuality to senility... Defiant Island is a deep and engaging read-a testament to Rayner's skill at weaving together both plot and thought." -Kathy Mac - Poet, 'Nail Builders Plan for Strength and Growth' (Defiant Island) "Rayner has a keen eye for detail... and shows a deep understanding of the Bay of Fundy's populated islands, and of the people who have struggled to wrest a living from the sea and the land... as they struggle to hold onto their homes and way of life despite business and political decisions that would see them dispersed to the mainland. I wanted them to win out, but in the end, I am not sure they did." -David Goss - Author, 'It Happened in New Brunswick', 'Saint John Curiosities', 'Tall Tales and Curious Happenings' (Defiant Island) "You can smell the salt water and the sea air in this novel... An absorbing story of a proud people's fight to survive... a story of struggle and enduring friendship... a story about love. If you want to understand the spirit of New Brunswick this is a novel you should read. It'll take you on a ferry ride to a place that will seize your imagination. I want to emphasize how realistic the dialogue is. I felt like I was eavesdropping and at times even felt a little bit embarrassed that I was listening in on such a personal and private conversation." -Terry Seguin - CBC Radio and Television (Defiant Island)