title: The Custodian of Paradise: A Novel
author:  Wayne Johnston 
description: Sheilagh Fieldinga striking, unconventional, six-foot-three Newfoundland woman with a limpreturns from prolific Johnston's <i>The Colony of Unrequited Dreams</i> for this highly atmospheric sequel. Near the end of WWII, Fielding (as she is known), a notorious St. John's columnist, holes up on the nearby deserted island of Loreburn after her mother dies and leaves her a small inheritance. There, Fielding senses the presence of her mysterious "Provider," who has shadowed her all her life and whom she has never met face-to-face. As Fielding tells her storyabandoned by her mother at six; raised by a father who insinuates she's not hisFielding's Provider draws closer to her solitary retreat. But Fielding has long kept another secret: she gave birth to twins at the age of 15, who were raised as her half-siblings by her mother in New York City. Johnston's descriptive prose can be exhilarating, from the windswept island to a dingy Manhattan, and he has a sure hand with historical nuggets. There's little tension over the 500-plus pages, and the denouement (her father's identity; her children's fate) is overblown. But Fielding is a fascinating character: she courts her own estrangement as much as she is tormented by it. <i>(Apr.)</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text: > praise for ![](images/John_9780307375445_epub_001_r1.jpg)  
  >  
  > THE CUSTODIAN OF PARADISE
  
  > > “The plot has more mysterious twists and turns around foggy, gin-soaked
  > corners than the Victorian-era hunt for Jack the Ripper. Expect to be
  > exhausted, a little spooked and maybe even enlightened by the end of the
  > journey.”
  
  > > —Ottawa Citizen
  
  > > “Johnston’s incredibly convincing characters are matched by his incisive
  > and emotionally charged language…. Readers of The Colony of Unrequited
  > Dreams will be engaged once again by Sheilagh Fielding, and newcomers need
  > not read the earlier novel to be swept along.”
  
  > > —Edmonton Journal
  
  > > “The Custodian of Paradise is a logical next layer to epic artistry, an
  > opportunity to witness a writer’s development, and a second chance for
  > readers to get what they wanted from The Colony of Unrequited Dreams.”
  
  > > —The Vancouver Sun
  
  > > “His characters come to life through his inexorable patience in the
  > unspooling of his tale: the