THE WOMAN REPORTER AND THE HALIFAX EXPLOSION

A female cub reporter chases her first big story in Dupuis’ historical novel about an astonishing, lesser-known disaster that nearly obliterated a Canadian town.

On December 6, 1917, two ships made a catastrophic collision in Nova Scotia’s Halifax Harbour. One was the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship toting 3,000 tons of explosives from New York to Bordeaux. The resulting blast, which killed nearly 1,800 people and left scores of others injured and displaced, was the largest human-made explosion before the atomic bomb. Here, the story unfolds in the immediate aftermath of the disaster and tracks the journalists who covered it. The titular “woman reporter” is the adventurous yet proper Kate Dawson, a young staffer at the Toronto Advocate with a personal connection to Halifax. Was the explosion an accident? Part of a German spy plan? Equipped with a reporter’s pad and an ivory comb, she plans to do whatever’s necessary to get the facts, encountering her fair share of sexism and adversity along the way. Stenographic illustrations and an adventure-driven plot give the book an accessible feel that YA readers might particularly enjoy. Straightforward, if occasionally dialogue-heavy, prose (“I have never accepted the belief that men do what they want, and women do what they are told”) also make this an easy read. Dupuis’ thoughtful research of the disaster and its repercussions is apparent throughout, including the real dispatches from Halifax reporters. His protagonist, on the other hand, is less meticulously crafted. With her “tall, slim-waisted figure,” “deep blue eyes,” “firm sensual mouth,” and “ready smile,” Kate is a Hollywood archetype in a whale bone blouse who’s just bold enough to stand up to her male counterparts without sacrificing her feminine charm. If readers can look past the clichéd character choices, there’s a fun read in store.

An entertaining interpretation of a cataclysmic event in Canadian history—saddled with timeworn characterization.