When Quoyle's two-timing wife meets her just desserts, he retreats with his two daughters to his ancestral home on the starkly beautiful Newfoundland coast, where a rich cast of local characters and family members all play a part in Quoyle's struggle to reclaim his life. As Quoyle confronts his private demons -- and the unpredictable forces of nature and society -- he begins to see the possibility of love without pain or misery. <P> A vigorous, darkly comic, and at times magical portrait of the contemporary North American family, <I>The Shipping News</I> shows why Annie Proulx is recognized as one of the most gifted and original writers in America today.