Magdalena's Song

For Mestern’s fourth novel “Magdalena's Song,” she chose to place the characters in a small village in rural Ontario. The book's story takes place during a twelve day period in 1947 when a mysterious old man arrived in the village on the Saugeen River in Grey County. Like many small communities, the man's appearance is considered suspicious by a number of local residents, especially when the lives of some of the most influential villagers begin to unravel quickly after his arrival. Is Daniel the ghost of a gypsy who once loved a woman from the area? Is he a labour organizer with a very slick cover story? Whatever - or whoever - he is, the village will never be the same after Daniel leaves. Magdalena's Song was written as a lasting tribute to the Romani who traveled through southern Ontario during the 1920's to early 1950's. The story immortalizes those individuals who traveled "the road" and whose music, that Pat heard as a child, which has always remained in her heart.