Some people age gracefully as wisdom and calm come with the grey hair. Others become crotchety, opinionated, and odd. People avoid them and laugh at them. Still others give up on life, on ambition, on dreams, and settle into a pleasant wait for the grave. I was one of those people. Felix Ryan, from Curlew, Conception Bay, is a schoolteacher on the edge of a cliff in a serious mid-life crisis. But a phone call from Tammy, an ex-girlfriend, calls him back home to help his eccentric father in his latest crusade. A big US oil company has begun fracking in his hometown. Led by a jovial Texan and represented by a crack young lawyer, the company is buying up land. The town is split in two over fracking and its new prosperity. Sparks of attraction fly between Felix and Tammy, even though he jilted her years before. Felix's father leads the fight against the oil company, and Felix is drawn further into the fight. As the battle lines are drawn in the sand, he finds a new direction in his life, a woman who loves him, and a cause worth fighting for. From the author of The Sign on My Father's House- Winner of the CBC's NL Reads 2020 Competition

"Felix, you are a dreamer. I used to be, too, but there's no payoff in it." Felix Ryan, from Curlew, Conception Bay, has been in love with the enigmatic Ellen Monteau ever since the day he met her in school at Smallwood High. Friends and family try to warn him that she is nothing but trouble, but she is Helen of Troy and he longs to be her King Menelaus . . . or Prince Paris. Meanwhile, trouble is brewing at home, as Felix's father erects an enormous sign on his house condemning Premier Joey Smallwood-much to the chagrin of his family and their Liberal neighbours in the early days after Confederation. This is the uproariously funny and at times heartbreaking tale of a young man's rough ride into adulthood. Felix Ryan is on a journey to discover who he is and where he is headed. He moves from rural Newfoundland to the hectic life of Memorial University in the late 1960s. It is a world of music, girls, and new experiences. Felix's world is changing as the Joey Smallwood era comes to an end. But Ellen Monteau never strays far from his mind. Ultimately, he must choose between continuing his education on the mainland of Canada, or putting down roots at home in Newfoundland. The Sign on My Father's House marks Tom Moore's triumphant and long-anticipated return to literary fiction. It is a story about finding your voice and putting up your own sign about who you are and what you believe.