N.L. native releases book recalling her years spent at boarding school in St. John’s
‘It is not always a pretty story’
“I am the story … It is not always a pretty story.”
Christine Mackinnon is the author of autobiographical “Chronicles From The Hall,” a look at her teenaged years spent at a Catholic boarding school run by the Sisters of Mercy in St. John’s. Although born and brought up in Newfoundland, she has been living in Sydney with her family for the past 35 years. However, there are parts of your life that you never forget and Mackinnon brings them to life in this coming-of-age story.
“The names have been changed to protect the innocent and the guilty,” Mackinnon said in a recent phone interview.
“It’s not a work of fine literature, it’s a quick read. It’s almost like reading a journal. It takes you from the time I left home, why I was sent there and the trials and tribulations I went through and I have a lot of things happen to me, sexual abuse and things like that and the end is what became of me.”
The book is independently published and was launched recently in Sydney, N.S., where Mackinnon was joined by Sandra Dunn, who did a soft relaunch of her poetry book, “Light Years,” at the same time. Both are members of Whitney Pier Writer’s Ink.
“Sandra has been my mentor ever since I’ve been a member of the Whitney Pier Writers Ink,” says Mackinnon. “They’re my first thank you for support and the source of my inspiration, no question.”
Mackinnon had attempted to write the book in the past but never got past the third chapter until about 18 months ago when she had an epiphany.
“Then I sat down and wrote it in about 30 days,” she says. “I had a trigger about sexual abuse, something that came back to me and I’ve been seeing a psychologist, so I said I’m going for this — it’s here and I’ve got to put this on paper.
“It was very healing, actually. It was tough, but it was healing.”
The book has been doing well on Amazon.ca, receiving mostly five-star ratings.
“According to my publicist I’m getting a fairly large audience in the young adult readership that I didn’t quite expect but I can understand why, in retrospect. It’s a lot about surviving and I did have some problems with self-harming and things like that, so I think I can see why it is appealing to young adults.”
In addition to her memoir, Mackinnon has been working on a book of short stories that will be released at a later date.
Mackinnon will launch her book in St. John’s Wednesday Oct. 10, at the Arts and Culture Centre, 3rd floor at 6:30 p.m. She’ll also be signing copies of the book Saturday, Oct. 13, at Chapters on Kenmount Road from 1-3 p.m.