Labrador Patella

WINNER OF THE 2025 PERCY JANES FIRST NOVEL AWARD.

Patella: a bony cap that covers the knee joint; a family unit.

For seven-year-old Archie Rumbolt and his thirty-four-year-old mother Fanny, the years between 1946 and 1954 were wrought with grief and despair, brought on by a terrible sickness that ravaged the windswept coast of Labrador.

When sliding with friends in December 1946, Archie punctured his kneecap, and for the next six years his life took a series of dramatic turns that changed the fate of his entire family.

Gripped by the greed of the merchants in Labrador and at the mercy of the Grenfell Mission, this is the story of a mother and son and the intense pain of having your child whisked away and not having him home again until he is a teenager. It is a story of the turmoil of living on the harsh unforgiving coast of Labrador during difficult times, and the heartbreak of having your children be so far away with no communication.