Levi Conley has spent his life making a hard living off the water. Fishing defines who he is. But after being betrayed by his business partners, who are also his brothers, he flees out west for the “big bucks” promised by work as an apprentice welder. The work is well-paid, as promised, but it is also hazardous. And there is the unexpected collaboration with Jon Smith, a young native and contemporary artist; Levi respects his craftsmanship but balks at his politics. A new career in a new place with a new view of Canadian society – Levi must navigate these obstacles and more in charting his new life.

Lee Stringer grew up in the outport village of Little Hearts Ease, in Newfoundland’s Trinity Bay, but has been living in the nearby town of Clarenville most of his adult life. Stringer is a welder who has worked on different large scale projects from the Alberta oil sands to Labrador Iron Ore sites, and like thousands of other Newfoundlanders, commuted by plane for multiple week shiftwork. The vast majority of this novel was written in the late evenings in the work camps of these giant construction sites.

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"In Levi, Stringer has crafted a self-involved but complex character that is still worthy of empathy...Stringer's description of life in the work camps makes Provider's Son a worthy and eye-opening read."