Rockbound

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Rockbound is a 1928 novel by Canadian writer Frank Parker Day about a small, fictional island off the coast of Nova Scotia. The island, inspired by East Ironbound, is rough and isolated by storms and fog, where two feuding families, the Jungs and the Krauses, are ruled by the stern Uriah Jung. When young David Jung arrives to claim a share of the island, he must face a harsh, controlling world and a fight for survival. His battles are both internal and external: the ocean, his own rough manners, his best friend, and a secret love for the island’s teacher. The story shows hard work, bitterness, and family power struggles before World War I, and it conveys the Atlantic’s power, danger, and beauty, including a shipwreck based on a real 1926 gale near Sable Island. Day based Rockbound on East Ironbound, changing place names so the real island becomes Rockbound and nearby towns become fictional. The residents of East Ironbound felt betrayed by his portrayal and published letters of complaint. Rockbound later gained recognition in Canada Reads 2005, where it won, led by Donna Morrissey. The book has also been turned into a musical, with a full-length version in 1998 by Whistling Fish Productions and later stage productions in 2001 and 2003, and a 2009 production by Allen Cole and Two Planks and a Passion Theatre Company in Nova Scotia.