When E. Annie Proulx was about to write The Shipping News, she relocated from New England to Newfoundland to get the right inspiration and sense of place for her writing. She moved into the Valhalla Lodge in Gunner's Cove on the northwest tip of the Western Peninsula near L'Anse Aux Meadows. By all accounts, she settled right in and set to work on her book. At a certain point during her stay, the B&B owners had to head south on a business or family matter and told her she had the run of the place, and could just ignore any knocks on the door by would-be lodgers. When they returned, they found her cooking breakfasts and changing beds for guests. Seems she settled into life in a remote part of Newfoundland just fine, doing what she could to help out as generations of Newfoundlanders up that way had done for centuries.
She was so taken by the area that she bought two houses near the Lodge and renovated them. She called them Quoyle's House and Wavey's House after the main characters in The Shipping News. She has since sold them to the owners of the Lodge, but it is easy to see how these places would appeal to a writer.
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| Quoyle's House |
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| Wavey's House |
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Quoyle's House
The housekeeper invited us inside the houses to take a look around. It was all very cozy, with great views out the windows.
With views like this, I could become an inspired writer too!
When they made the film of The Shipping News, it was shot on location in Newfoundland. However, they shot it near the town of Trinity on the east coast of the island, not here in the isolated community of Gunner's Cove.
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