Summary

Sweetland, by Michael Crummey is the story of an old man, Moses Sweetland, and how he deals with the Canadian government-driven resettlement of the small and isolated North Atlantic island he and his fellow islanders have lived on for generations. The government has offered a generous amount of money to each islander, with the stipulation that it is an all-or-nothing deal. As the last hold-out refusing to accept the resettlement package, Moses Sweetland confronts covert hostility and anxiety from the rest of the islanders, who are mostly ready to move on. The novel is told entirely from Sweetland's point of view, and moves from his stubborn refusal to acceptance and then resistance in the face of extreme solitude.

Book I is titled "The King's Seat," under which is a quotation from the Biblical Book of Isaiah: "Even unto them will...