Laying the Children's Ghosts to Rest

• Cole Harris, Professor Emeritus of Historical Geography, UBC, calls Laying the Children’s Ghosts to Rest “A significant achievement in Canadian history.”

• “Laying the Children’s Ghosts to Rest is a real find, for here are a series of case studies of young people who were migrated and their experiences in Canada. Here for those who know little of the story is a clear explanation of how the migration of children came about but without any hint of demonizing those who organized and participated in the selection, transfer and placement of thousands of young people. And he is keen to point to the success stories, but that said, running through the book is that inescapable fact that many who left Britain were scarred for ever by their experiences which marched with them through the rest of their lives and tumbled down into their relationships with family and friends… the last section raises very real questions about an economic, political and social system which created such inequalities and poverty and in turn allowed the migration of children to seem a real solution.”

—Andrew Simpson, author of The Ever Open Door: 150 Years of the Together Trust, Manchester, England 

• “The book’s subject is an important one, shining light on a dark corner of our national and provincial history… I have experienced Art’s carefully organized, impressively presented and gripping articulation of the facts and impacts of that aspect of Canadian history his research and writing has illuminated so movingly.”

—Tom Wayman, author and poet 

“With a poet’s eye, (Joyce) often finds the exact image to make his story fly beneath the radar and nest in the ear and eye: ‘We are walking history. Like it or not—believe it or not—we carry its burdens. As individuals or as a nation, we either lay the ghosts of family past to rest or remain haunted by them—and pass them on to our children to deal with. The psychic dislocation of abandonment echoes down the generations like a gunshot, a bullet tearing through the heart.’ Joyce tells the story so compellingly, not only because he writes with subtlety and flair, but also because he’s a brilliant man and has a poet’s eye for the telling metaphor and le mot juste.”

—Gary Geddes, author and poet, review for the Vancouver Sun 

“I want to tell you how impressed I am by the enormous amount of work you’ve done—the research must have taken ages—and by the way you’ve woven the stories together... This is a book I could never have written. The subject matter would have defeated me, so I salute you for what you have accomplished, and in so readable, so accessible a form. Congratulations.”

—Sharon Butala, author 

“Joyce has found his niche in the melding of heart and politics.” 

—Rita Moir, author