Rescued

A Young Mother's Memoir of Survival on Newfoundland's Forgotten Coast

By: Dawn E. Neill

Narrated by: Jane O’Neill

In 1968, I was a sixteen-year-old girl with three passions: writing, my boyfriend, and sex. So… I started a diary, got married, and had a baby. Now, in 2025, I am a seventy-three-year-old woman with three passions: writing, my family, and, well… It's time to tell my story...

As a teenager, Dawn had everything she wanted in suburban Toronto—good grades, proud parents, and a passionate romance with an ambitious young artist. But when her father's affair shattered her family and her mother warned "you can't trust men," her world turned upside down. In an act of rebellion, Dawn married her boyfriend and became a young mother. Together, with their young son, they ran away to Pushthrough, an abandoned Newfoundland outport with no roads, no electricity, no neighbours, and no escape.

This is the raw, unfiltered true story of one young mother's struggle to confront love, isolation, and self-reliance in one of Canada's most remote wilderness areas. Battling brutal weather and near-death adventures, she spiralled toward breakdown—until an unexpected moment of redemption changed everything.

Perfect for listeners of Wild, Educated, and The Glass Castle—this inspiring coming-of-age memoir about choosing between love and identity is the unforgettable first book in the Journey Trilogy: From Sea to Sand to Snow.

©2025 Dawn E. Neill (P)2026 Dawn E. Neill

Critic reviews

"A gripping story of courage and new beginnings that whisks you to the rugged shores of 1970's Newfoundland – so vivid and intimate, you'll forget you weren't really there." —Tina Hagmann, author of When Atlantis Calls