Harbour View, Binnie Brennan's prize-winning novella, closely resembles—in structure if not intent—a collection of linked short stories. The novella’s six untitled chapters are set either completely or in large part in a nursing home overlooking Halifax Harbour. Each of the chapters is narrated from the point of view of a different character: a resident or staff member of the facility. As we might expect from a work of fiction that concerns itself with elderly men and women and those who care for them, memory looms large in these pages. Buddy, who is celebrating his 109th birthday, is consumed by memories of his children, all of whom are dead, and by a unique musical heritage that is embodied in a fiddle constructed by his great grandfather and passed down from one generation to the next. Dahlia, tormented by aches and pains, dreads her bath, finds the chatter of the caregivers irritating and misses her partner Ronnie. Violet is writing down the story of her time as an artists' model for her niece, and Myrna keeps herself busy reading her mother's diary and tries to hide her chagrin when her son and his wife announce they are selling the family home. None of these people are especially unhappy or burdened with regret, but neither are they in a mood to celebrate the days they have left. They are simply aware that their best years are behind them and have grown accustomed to the indignities of old age and living in the shadow of death. Brennan is an observant, pragmatic and sympathetic writer who treats her characters with respect even as she zeroes in on their weaknesses and vulnerabilities—this is true as well of the two chapters that focus on staff of the nursing home. Throughout the book the writing is plain but effective and conveys deep emotion with great subtlety. In her debut work of fiction Binnie Brennan finds drama in small things and grants a voice to a group that doesn’t often get to speak for itself. Her triumph is that she does so with compassion while avoiding sentimentality. ( )