It is 1917, and the nightmare of World War One is dragging on through yet another winter. As far as Penelope Wain knows, her lover, Neil Macrae is already dead -- killed in action while serving overseas under her father. That he died apparently in disgrace does not alter her love for him, even though her father is one of the most insistent believers in his guilt. But what neither Penelope nor her father knows is that Neil Macrae is not dead, but has returned to Halifax to clear his name.
Barometer Rising, Hugh MacLennan's first novel, is a compelling romance set against the horrors of wartime and the catastrophic Halifax Explosion of Thursday, December 6, 1917.