Dorris Heffron: The woman who writes with the wolves

By Ken Chisholm
The Cape Breton Post
November 14, 2009

Author Dorris Heffron visited Cape Breton this past week and I was lucky to hear her speak twice about her latest novel, City Wolves. Heffron was born in Quebec, grew up in Ontario, taught literature and writing around the world including Oxford University and Xavier College, the forerunner to Cape Breton University. She has many friends on the island including Fr. Greg MacLeod, who appears as a character in one of her earlier young adult novels.
    When Heffron began writing in England in the late 1960s, "young adult" literature didn't exist: there were the classics like Anne of Green Gables but realistic stories placed in a contemporary setting were rare. Heffron's first novel, A Nice Fire And Some Moonpies, about a young aboriginal woman who sets off to find the hippie scene in Toronto was a "pioneering" effort published by Britain's largest publisher.
   A later young adult novel, Crusty Crossed, told the story of British children evacuated during the Second World War and their efforts to adapt to life on Cape Breton Island. This novel is in the Nova Scotia Collection at the McConnell Branch of the Cape Breton Regional Library, where I heard her speak, and it can be read at the branch but not loaned out.
    A Shark in The House, published in 1996, was Heffron's first work for mature readers and has been a favourite of book clubs. Last year, Heffron published her most ambitious novel yet, City Wolves (Blue Butterfly Books). The novel, set in the Klondike Gold Rush, resembles her other works in that it combines elements of myth, history, and parts of Heffron's own life — two Malamute sled dogs she lived with appear as major characters.
    A friend of mine found it so compelling she read all 450 pages in one day. City Wolves has a Nova Scotia connection (the heroine is a female veterinarian who begins practicing in Halifax) and a Cape Breton one (another character hails from North Sydney). A significant character is Big Alex MacDonald, known as the Big Moose from Antigonish, and also known as the King of Klondike. MacDonald made his fortune as a canny investor, saw his renown spread across continents and even met with the Pope. He eventually lost it all but stayed a prospector to the end. Heffron generously donated a copy of City Wolves to the McConnell. It can be ordered from bluebutterflybooks.ca
    Ken Chisholm lives in Sydney and has written plays, songs, reviews, magazine articles and now has a blog at www.cbpost.com.