''Nights Below Station Street'' is a novel by

David Adams Richards David Adams Richards (born 17 October 1950) is a Canadian writer and member of the Canadian Senate.The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', May 14, 1988. It was the first volume in his Miramichi trilogy, which also included the novels '' Evening Snow Will Bring Such Peace'' (1990) and '' For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down'' (1993). The novel centres on the Walshes, a rural New Brunswick family in the 1970s. Patriarch Joe has been only irregularly employed since injuring his back at work several years earlier, his wife Rita is concerned about his resulting struggles with

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...

and depression while herself struggling to cope with being the family's sole breadwinner, and teenage daughter Adele is bitterly unhappy with the family's circumstances and resentful of her father's inability to hold steady work. The novel won the

Governor General's Award for English-language fiction The Governor General's Award for English-language fiction is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a fiction book written in English.1988 Governor General's Awards Each winner of the 1988 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit received $5000 and a medal from the Governor General of Canada. The winners and nominees were selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts. Eng ...

. The novel was adapted by Credo Entertainment as a

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

,"On the set of Nights Below Station Street"
'' Playback'', April 7, 1997. which aired on CBC Television in 1998. The cast included

Liisa Repo-Martell Liisa Repo-Martell is a Canadian actress and artist. Her parents Satu Repo and George Martell were founding editors of '' This Magazine Is About Schools'', an influential independent Canadian magazine now known as ''"This"''. Liisa grew up ...

as Adele Walsh,

Lynda Boyd Lynda Boyd (born January 28, 1965) is a Canadian actress, singer, dancer, musician, and writer. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the films '' Final Destination 2'' (2003), '' An Unfinished Life'' (2005), ''She's the Man'' (2006), and ' ...

as Rita, Michael Hogan as Joe, and

Brent Stait Brent Stait (born September 9, 1959) is a Canadian actor, best known for his roles as Rev Bem in the science fiction television series '' Andromeda'' and Louis Ferretti in ''Stargate SG-1''. Biography Stait was born in Snow Lake, Manitoba. Th ...

as Vye. It was also adapted for the stage by Caleb Marshall in 2006. Richards directly pokes fun at himself in his 2016 novel '' Principles to Live By'', in which several characters dismiss ''Nights Below Station Street'' as a "dirty, ignorant novel" that "nobody in their right mind would want to read"."David Adams Richards offers Principles to Live By, namely, have some ‘common decency’"
''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'', May 18, 2016.

References

{{Governor General's English fiction 1988 Canadian novels Novels by David Adams Richards Governor General's Award-winning fiction books Canadian novels adapted into films Canadian novels adapted into plays 1998 television films 1998 films CBC Television original films Films directed by Norma Bailey New Canadian Library Canadian drama television films 1990s Canadian films