Writer’s work goes from page to stage You couldn’t ask for a better hook or promo line than Morgan Wade’s onesentence synopsis for his new novel: “Bottle & Glass–a story of survival and escape told from the barstools of two dozen boisterous Kingston taverns at the end of the War of 1812.” That pretty well gives you an idea of what’s to come in the book. The idea first sparked in Wade more than ten years ago. “After we moved here in 2001, Fort Henry really captured my imagination. I thought of setting a story in the fort. I tried to feel what it would be like to be some raw recruit miles from home.” Wade said he’s an amateur history buff, so it was important to him to keep the book true to history. “These sorts of things in history you don’t want to fictionalize,” he said. “But what would have been going through someone’s head in 1814 is fun to imagine.” He started his research and spent a lot of time in places like the Queen’s University Archives. “I kept coming up against all these interesting bits of history around taverns and inns. There was a prevalence of drinking establishments in Kingston 200 years ago. In those days tea-totalling was considered unhealthy.”
Learning about Kingston’s history prompted Wade to move the setting of his novel to the city’s imbibing headquarters. When he discovered the impact of impressment, that sealed the pub deal. Many nations used impressment to take men into their navies by force. Press gangs served to staff Royal Navy ships. During the early 19th century it is estimated that 120,000 sailors had been pressed into service in the British fleet. “I was stunned by some of the stories I found,” said Wade. “You’d have men serving on ships for years, and when they got 24 hours shore leave, they’d get paid for the past five years. They had all this money and 24 hours to spend it. There was mayhem in port towns. I really wanted to incorporate all the great taverns and inns I was reading about. When it started coming together, each chapter was set in a different tavern.” In the first pages of Bottle and Glass, there are maps of early Kingston. Taverns and inns sat on most corners. Sailors wouldn’t have to walk far fon a pub crawl. Chapter one opens in late summer 1813 at The Rode and Shackle, a public house. And the opening line? It’s a gem: “Glasses and bottles trembled.” The tone is set. Wade lets the reader know up front that it’s going to be an interesting ride in this piece of history. Throughout the book, there are good hooks teasing the reader’s interest.
Kingston author Morgan Wade’s new novel, Bottle and Glass, will be adapted for stage by Theatre Kingston. In Chapter Ten—Violin, Bottle,and Glass—the descriptions are vivid and the observations astute. The description: “the atmosphere was soupy inside Mr. Poncet’s tavern, at the sign of the Violin, Bottle, and Glass, at the edge of Sir John’s Park; thick with sweat, breath, and desire.” The observation: “The bored needed distraction.” This is a storyteller who knows how to write. Wade grew up north of Toronto in the small town of Tottenham, but he took to the road when he turned 19 and headed on a continental road trip with a friend, emulating Kerouac along the way (i.e., they slept in the car). When he returned to Canada, he attended McMaster for a degree in philosophy with a minor in comparative literature. He followed this with a Master of Philosophy Degree in Halifax. Although he had an offer of acceptance to the PhD program at York, he said he saw the writing on the career wall. Continued on page 38
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Kingston Heritage - Thursday, October 8, 2015 37