Inspired by True Events

“Men who weren’t hard workers didn’t last long at the lumber woods.”

Most people in Newfoundland and Labrador have someone in their family who has worked “in the woods.” Some of these workers were employed seasonally—they fished in the summer and headed to the lumber camps in the winter—while others were full-time loggers who worked year-round.

Stan White runs Camp 13 on the southwestern side of Gander Lake, which is a commercial operation cutting pulpwood for Bowater Pulp and Paper. He and his brother, Allan, oversee the men employed by the company to ensure the camp runs smoothly. The camp had opened in the fall of 1949. Now, during its third year in operation, Stan has his work cut out for him, as Bowater has tasked Camp 13 with the delivery of 7,000 cords of pulpwood.

This historical novel captures a time and place in this province’s not-too-distant past. Camp 13 illustrates in fine, well-researched detail the day-to-day friendships, struggles, triumphs, and tragedies of a hard-working people employed in a way of life that is long gone but never forgotten.