Bringing the War Home

Three military suicides in the span of one week last November put Canadians on notice that whatever wars we thought we were done with are still violently with us. Veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as a host of other physical injuries, have been forced out of service on early medical discharges, effectively denying them their pensions. A hard truth, this collective inability to care for our soldiers at home. Such is the moment informing Michael Winter’s novel, Minister Without Portfolio, a penetrating exploration of contemporary postwar life that contemplates the entanglements of personal obligation amidst crumbling, unreliable national foundations.

Winter’s protagonist, Henry Hayward, is in retreat from a forlorn, and perhaps formulaic, Newfoundland tableau (a dirty harbour, dingy bars and a suggestively named ex, Nora Power). In an effort to escape and live the “dangerous life” that Nora vaguely craved, Henry takes up work as...