The Shipping News is a novel by American author E. Annie Proulx and published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1993.

Quoyle's distant parents have recently committed suicide, and his estranged wife, Petal has died in a car accident with another man.

Quoyle finds work as a reporter for the Gammy Bird, the local newspaper in Killick-Claw, a small town.

Over time, Quoyle learns deep and disturbing secrets about his ancestors that emerge in strange ways.

He creates a rewarding job, makes friends and begins a relationship with a local woman, Wavey Prowse.