Dancing in a Jar

After the devastating tidal wave of 1929, followed by the onset of a world-wide Great Depression, the hopes of the town of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland, rest on the future of a fluorspar mine. Donald Poynter is hired to oversee the operation, and he travels with his new bride, Urla, from a bustling life in New Jersey to the small, struggling outport community.

Based on a true story, Dancing in a Jar elaborates the real-life love affair of a young couple committed to one another and to their new surroundings. As her narrative unfolds in a series of letters and correspondences, Adele Poynter weaves a remarkable romantic tale through the life of a small mining town—capturing the sorrow and joyousness, the hardship and perseverance—to ultimately reveal how the loves of our lives are inherently united with our love of a landscape and its people.