Marianne Perry's Blog - Posts Tagged "canada"
How Do You Celebrate Your Ancestors' Stories? Book Review: The Nine Lives Of Charlotte Taylor
The Nine Lives Of Charlotte Taylor by Sally Armstrong.
The Nine Lives Of Charlotte Taylor is a blend of fact and fiction that tells the story of Sally Armstrong’s great-great-great grandmother. It chronicles her life from May 1775 when at age twenty and estranged from her father, General William Howe Taylor, Charlotte departs Bristol, England on the Anton with her black lover, Pad Willisams, the family’s butler. The couple head to the West Indies to meet Pad’s relatives and begin anew. Upon arrival in Jamaica, everything unravels. There are no relatives, they are forced to work at The Raleigh Sugar Cane Plantation and live in squalor. Pad succumbs to yellow fever leaving a pregnant Charlotte alone. Feigning his widow, she is befriended by Commodore George Walker who operates a trading post in Nepisiguit in what is now the province of New Brunswick, Canada. He provides her passage there and she bonds with the People of the Salmon, a Mi’kmaq community, and gives birth to a daughter. The Commodore admits knowing her identity but Charlotte refuses to return to England and adhere to constrained rules. Cognizant she could not remain with the Mi’kmaq permanently; she dons a pragmatic outlook, concedes a husband necessary and weds Captain John Blake. The book recounts Charlotte’s experiences until her death in 1841.
Structurally, the 397 page novel is well-organized. It opens with a map situating the four locales in Northern New Brunswick, Canada where Charlotte settles: In the Preface, Armstrong states, “Historians claim she was the first woman settler on the Miramichi River.” The fourteen chapters are titled and dated with a year marking a significant phase of Charlotte’s life. I welcomed the titles referenced the map thereby allowing the reader to follow Charlotte’s journey plus understand the landscape of the period. The last section contains an Afterword, which speaks to Armstrong’s writing process, the accuracy of some details and unresolved questions about the real Charlotte Taylor. Acknowledgments express thanks.
Finally, Sources lists books, papers and archives consulted. Armstrong’s tale is rich with history: the West Indies trade, the Mi’kmaq, Loyalists, American colonists, etc. The Web Sites include Chronology of the Abolition of Slavery, The Acadian History Time Line and The Importance of Food in Eighteenth-Century Louisbourg. This section will aid those keen to acquire deeper insight into the 17th and 18th centuries and Armstrong merits commendation for its comprehensiveness.
Charlotte’s life is grim yet inspiring. She bears ten children, outlives three husbands, buries her oldest son and dies without surety of reconciliation with her father. She is unrelenting in her demands that females are treated equal to males and land registered in a woman’s name. Though upper class bred; her respect for and adoption of traditional ways melded with wit, stamina and will enable her to adapt to harsh environs. As a result of tenacity and resourcefulness, she establishes homesteads for her family and carves an identity of her own design. Though her life unfolds contrary to her initial imaginings, the reader senses her peaceful passing from old age symbolic of graceful acceptance.
Sally Armstrong is a skilled wordsmith. The imagery she crafts enlivens the past and reveals Charlotte’s persona. This excerpt from Chapter 2, The Atlantic Seaboard 1775 when she first sees the Baie de Chaleur paints a beautiful picture of a scene that captured Charlotte’s wonderment. “…Forests of fir trees drop off into fields of glistening seagrass that wave over long, sandy beaches…They (the whales) move like undersea mountains, riding up to the surface and slipping out of sight again.”
The next reference from Chapter 3, The Baie 1775where Charlotte witnesses a great blue heron has a similar effect. “A giant bird with blue-and-grey feathers, a long angular neck and spindly legs is standing like a solitary custodian gazing out over the water….The bird is grand but vulnerable, so lonely in its repose….lifts off the sand suddenly and soundlessly, its massive wingspan spreading to a width that astonishes her, its neck coiling as it takes flight.”
And thirdly, the moose calf moccasins Marie, a Mi’kmaq woman, makes Charlotte in Chapter 5, The Nepisiguit 1776 when she is about to move to the Miramichi. The act honours native artistry, testifies to a relationship that contravened social norms and emphasized our heroine’s determination to set her own course. Armstrong’s parsing is stellar. “They (the moccasins) are violet in colour, the skins dyed with the juice of blueberries, the sides ornamented with the exquisite quillwork of the People.”
Though of a steely temperament, Armstrong has developed Charlotte as a multi-dimensional character. Captain John Blake has just died and this passage of internal dialogue at the start of Chapter 9, The Southwest Miramichi 1785 allows the reader to feel her anguish and fears about her bleak dilemma. “…Dark thoughts whir like hornets. Is she cursed? A dead lover, a dead husband, and she is only thirty years old. Elizabeth is nine, John is almost eight, Polly is five and Robert three….She looks at her husband’s ashen face-no serenity there, just the marks of his pain-filled last hours-and thinks, What am I to do with you? Then, What am I to do without you?”
Armstrong also excels at depicting harrowing incidents Charlotte and her counterparts faced. Here are two excellent examples that transport the reader back to this era. Chapter 1, The Ocean 1775 when an Atlantic storm batters the Anton as it sails from England to the West Indies, and Chapter 11, The Miramichi 1791 during a three-day nor-easter that ravaged the community.
My primary reservation about this book relates to uneven pacing. Whereas Armstrong most often pens exacting writing, on occasion, she whizzes through events and periods with scant attention. A case in point is Chapter 13, The Point 1814 that spans 16 years in 12 pages. This inconsistency produces a jerky ebb and flow that disrupts an otherwise excellent read. A recommendation to enlarge the map and feature enhanced text would represent a visual improvement. I will conclude this review by applauding Sally Armstrong’s tribute to her great-great-great grandmother and affirm my belief that Charlotte Taylor is proud of her and this book. May we all take the author’s lead and celebrate our ancestors’ stories.
Marianne Perry
Author of The Inheritance
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
http://www.marianneperry.ca
The Nine Lives Of Charlotte Taylor is a blend of fact and fiction that tells the story of Sally Armstrong’s great-great-great grandmother. It chronicles her life from May 1775 when at age twenty and estranged from her father, General William Howe Taylor, Charlotte departs Bristol, England on the Anton with her black lover, Pad Willisams, the family’s butler. The couple head to the West Indies to meet Pad’s relatives and begin anew. Upon arrival in Jamaica, everything unravels. There are no relatives, they are forced to work at The Raleigh Sugar Cane Plantation and live in squalor. Pad succumbs to yellow fever leaving a pregnant Charlotte alone. Feigning his widow, she is befriended by Commodore George Walker who operates a trading post in Nepisiguit in what is now the province of New Brunswick, Canada. He provides her passage there and she bonds with the People of the Salmon, a Mi’kmaq community, and gives birth to a daughter. The Commodore admits knowing her identity but Charlotte refuses to return to England and adhere to constrained rules. Cognizant she could not remain with the Mi’kmaq permanently; she dons a pragmatic outlook, concedes a husband necessary and weds Captain John Blake. The book recounts Charlotte’s experiences until her death in 1841.
Structurally, the 397 page novel is well-organized. It opens with a map situating the four locales in Northern New Brunswick, Canada where Charlotte settles: In the Preface, Armstrong states, “Historians claim she was the first woman settler on the Miramichi River.” The fourteen chapters are titled and dated with a year marking a significant phase of Charlotte’s life. I welcomed the titles referenced the map thereby allowing the reader to follow Charlotte’s journey plus understand the landscape of the period. The last section contains an Afterword, which speaks to Armstrong’s writing process, the accuracy of some details and unresolved questions about the real Charlotte Taylor. Acknowledgments express thanks.
Finally, Sources lists books, papers and archives consulted. Armstrong’s tale is rich with history: the West Indies trade, the Mi’kmaq, Loyalists, American colonists, etc. The Web Sites include Chronology of the Abolition of Slavery, The Acadian History Time Line and The Importance of Food in Eighteenth-Century Louisbourg. This section will aid those keen to acquire deeper insight into the 17th and 18th centuries and Armstrong merits commendation for its comprehensiveness.
Charlotte’s life is grim yet inspiring. She bears ten children, outlives three husbands, buries her oldest son and dies without surety of reconciliation with her father. She is unrelenting in her demands that females are treated equal to males and land registered in a woman’s name. Though upper class bred; her respect for and adoption of traditional ways melded with wit, stamina and will enable her to adapt to harsh environs. As a result of tenacity and resourcefulness, she establishes homesteads for her family and carves an identity of her own design. Though her life unfolds contrary to her initial imaginings, the reader senses her peaceful passing from old age symbolic of graceful acceptance.
Sally Armstrong is a skilled wordsmith. The imagery she crafts enlivens the past and reveals Charlotte’s persona. This excerpt from Chapter 2, The Atlantic Seaboard 1775 when she first sees the Baie de Chaleur paints a beautiful picture of a scene that captured Charlotte’s wonderment. “…Forests of fir trees drop off into fields of glistening seagrass that wave over long, sandy beaches…They (the whales) move like undersea mountains, riding up to the surface and slipping out of sight again.”
The next reference from Chapter 3, The Baie 1775where Charlotte witnesses a great blue heron has a similar effect. “A giant bird with blue-and-grey feathers, a long angular neck and spindly legs is standing like a solitary custodian gazing out over the water….The bird is grand but vulnerable, so lonely in its repose….lifts off the sand suddenly and soundlessly, its massive wingspan spreading to a width that astonishes her, its neck coiling as it takes flight.”
And thirdly, the moose calf moccasins Marie, a Mi’kmaq woman, makes Charlotte in Chapter 5, The Nepisiguit 1776 when she is about to move to the Miramichi. The act honours native artistry, testifies to a relationship that contravened social norms and emphasized our heroine’s determination to set her own course. Armstrong’s parsing is stellar. “They (the moccasins) are violet in colour, the skins dyed with the juice of blueberries, the sides ornamented with the exquisite quillwork of the People.”
Though of a steely temperament, Armstrong has developed Charlotte as a multi-dimensional character. Captain John Blake has just died and this passage of internal dialogue at the start of Chapter 9, The Southwest Miramichi 1785 allows the reader to feel her anguish and fears about her bleak dilemma. “…Dark thoughts whir like hornets. Is she cursed? A dead lover, a dead husband, and she is only thirty years old. Elizabeth is nine, John is almost eight, Polly is five and Robert three….She looks at her husband’s ashen face-no serenity there, just the marks of his pain-filled last hours-and thinks, What am I to do with you? Then, What am I to do without you?”
Armstrong also excels at depicting harrowing incidents Charlotte and her counterparts faced. Here are two excellent examples that transport the reader back to this era. Chapter 1, The Ocean 1775 when an Atlantic storm batters the Anton as it sails from England to the West Indies, and Chapter 11, The Miramichi 1791 during a three-day nor-easter that ravaged the community.
My primary reservation about this book relates to uneven pacing. Whereas Armstrong most often pens exacting writing, on occasion, she whizzes through events and periods with scant attention. A case in point is Chapter 13, The Point 1814 that spans 16 years in 12 pages. This inconsistency produces a jerky ebb and flow that disrupts an otherwise excellent read. A recommendation to enlarge the map and feature enhanced text would represent a visual improvement. I will conclude this review by applauding Sally Armstrong’s tribute to her great-great-great grandmother and affirm my belief that Charlotte Taylor is proud of her and this book. May we all take the author’s lead and celebrate our ancestors’ stories.
Marianne Perry
Author of The Inheritance
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
http://www.marianneperry.ca
Matrons and Madams by Sharon Johnston
Book Review:
Matrons and Madams by Sharon Johnston
Matrons and Madams by Sharon Johnston is a fiction derived from the life of the author's grandmother. The thirty chapter book spans the years 1912 to 1931. It begins in London, England in 1918 with Clara Durling, a British nurse-mother whose husband dies from complications related to injuries sustained in WW1. Chapter Two switches to 1912, Sydney, Nova Scotia and to Lily Parson who over the course of the novel becomes a widowed teacher-mother. There is an early chapter in New York City with Lily and her sister, Beth but the story is primarily set in Lethridge, Alberta. The action unfolds from both Clara and Lily's point of view with the former's serving the major. Clara becomes the Superintendent of Galt Hospital and Lily, operator of a brothel called The Last Post. As events unfold, a relationship between the women is discovered.
The author tackles a plethora of issues including: Spanish Flu Epidemic; World War One and tragedies suffered by the soldiers; coal mining; suicide; unwed mothers; family secrets; mother-daughter dynamics;suicide; kidnapping;eating disorders;unrealized love; prostitution; venereal disease; prohibition; economic depression; changing political views.
Sharon Johnston chronicles an interesting period in Canadian history and her attention to detail reflects extensive research conducted. In Chapter Eight, she pens a vivid image of the Canadian Shield; Chapter Nine, an excellent depiction of Grosse Ile immigration station in 1919; and Chapter Eleven, a clear picture of the Port of Montreal.
Johnston also draws us into the characters. In Chapter Five, there is a poignant description of Dr. James Barnaby whose war injuries dash his dreams of becoming a surgeon and in Chapter Nineteen, a double-amputee, Dan.
As a recommendation, threading fewer issues and fleshing them out deeper would have deepened understanding of events and heightened the reader's relationship with the story Nevertheless, Matrons and Madams is a good read.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
Matrons and Madams by Sharon Johnston
Matrons and Madams by Sharon Johnston is a fiction derived from the life of the author's grandmother. The thirty chapter book spans the years 1912 to 1931. It begins in London, England in 1918 with Clara Durling, a British nurse-mother whose husband dies from complications related to injuries sustained in WW1. Chapter Two switches to 1912, Sydney, Nova Scotia and to Lily Parson who over the course of the novel becomes a widowed teacher-mother. There is an early chapter in New York City with Lily and her sister, Beth but the story is primarily set in Lethridge, Alberta. The action unfolds from both Clara and Lily's point of view with the former's serving the major. Clara becomes the Superintendent of Galt Hospital and Lily, operator of a brothel called The Last Post. As events unfold, a relationship between the women is discovered.
The author tackles a plethora of issues including: Spanish Flu Epidemic; World War One and tragedies suffered by the soldiers; coal mining; suicide; unwed mothers; family secrets; mother-daughter dynamics;suicide; kidnapping;eating disorders;unrealized love; prostitution; venereal disease; prohibition; economic depression; changing political views.
Sharon Johnston chronicles an interesting period in Canadian history and her attention to detail reflects extensive research conducted. In Chapter Eight, she pens a vivid image of the Canadian Shield; Chapter Nine, an excellent depiction of Grosse Ile immigration station in 1919; and Chapter Eleven, a clear picture of the Port of Montreal.
Johnston also draws us into the characters. In Chapter Five, there is a poignant description of Dr. James Barnaby whose war injuries dash his dreams of becoming a surgeon and in Chapter Nineteen, a double-amputee, Dan.
As a recommendation, threading fewer issues and fleshing them out deeper would have deepened understanding of events and heightened the reader's relationship with the story Nevertheless, Matrons and Madams is a good read.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
A Stranger in the House
Book Comment: A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena
Karen and Tom Krupp are a thirty-something two-year married couple living in trendy New York State. She leaves her home hastily one evening and has a vehicular accident in a “questionable” neighborhood resulting in her suffering amnesia. She is eventually linked to a murder in this area.
Across the street from where they reside are Brigid and Bob Cruickshank. Brigid had an affair with Tom prior his marriage. With this unknown to Karen, she and Brigid become best friends. Brigid's inability to bear a child and her stalking the Krupp's adds another twisted element to this compelling murder mystery.
As the novel unfolds, we learn Tom knew scant about Karen's past when they wed. It is revealed she changed her name and identity plus faked her death to escape an abusive marriage. The murder victim is confirmed to be her first husband, Robert Traynor.
Brigid appears to have followed Karen the night of her accident and witnessed what happened. As the book progresses, Karen's version clashes with Brigid's and nothing at all is at it seems! Every character is shown to be someone else and every incident or detail is turned on its head.
Shari Lapena's prose is spare. With minimal description, imagery or backstory, this is a clean, clinical and sharp plot-driven novel. The action clips and as soon as the reader believes “she's got it,” Lapena pulls the proverbial rug from under our feet. The detectives Rasbach and Jennings are effective agents through which readers can state their assumptions and Lapena then refutes.
The resolutions to the various conflicts are unexpected but the concluding chapters, satisfying and logical. The title is brilliant for the person I believed “The stranger in the House” at the beginning was different than the one revealed at the end. Shari Lapena has penned a great goodread.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
Karen and Tom Krupp are a thirty-something two-year married couple living in trendy New York State. She leaves her home hastily one evening and has a vehicular accident in a “questionable” neighborhood resulting in her suffering amnesia. She is eventually linked to a murder in this area.
Across the street from where they reside are Brigid and Bob Cruickshank. Brigid had an affair with Tom prior his marriage. With this unknown to Karen, she and Brigid become best friends. Brigid's inability to bear a child and her stalking the Krupp's adds another twisted element to this compelling murder mystery.
As the novel unfolds, we learn Tom knew scant about Karen's past when they wed. It is revealed she changed her name and identity plus faked her death to escape an abusive marriage. The murder victim is confirmed to be her first husband, Robert Traynor.
Brigid appears to have followed Karen the night of her accident and witnessed what happened. As the book progresses, Karen's version clashes with Brigid's and nothing at all is at it seems! Every character is shown to be someone else and every incident or detail is turned on its head.
Shari Lapena's prose is spare. With minimal description, imagery or backstory, this is a clean, clinical and sharp plot-driven novel. The action clips and as soon as the reader believes “she's got it,” Lapena pulls the proverbial rug from under our feet. The detectives Rasbach and Jennings are effective agents through which readers can state their assumptions and Lapena then refutes.
The resolutions to the various conflicts are unexpected but the concluding chapters, satisfying and logical. The title is brilliant for the person I believed “The stranger in the House” at the beginning was different than the one revealed at the end. Shari Lapena has penned a great goodread.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
12 Rose Street by Gail Bowen
12 Rose Street by Gail Bowen
Joanne Kilbourn is the main character in this crime novel written by the Canadian author, Gail Bowen. A former political science professor, she is managing the mayoralty campaign of her second husband, Zack Shreve, a paraplegic lawyer. The action occurs in the present during the month of September prior the election. It is set in the impoverished north central district of Regina, Saskatchewan. Solving the murder of a complicated “sleaze slumlord” and the mystery of a home located on “12 Rose Street” drives the plot.
There are nineteen chapters in this three hundred and some paged book. The beginning is weighed down with excessive characters, background information and onerous details. It proves a tedious start but the pace improves in Chapter Six with a murder and twists. Though there is a tendency for filler, in particular Chapter Fourteen’s excessive description of a Thanksgiving weekend, 12 Rose Story tells a compelling tale that succeeds in maintaining reader interest.
With regards other comments, Gail Bowen describes the mechanics, various people and range of responsibilities in an election campaign with clarity. I did find it a shortcoming, however, that the use of social media other than references to computers, twitter and cell phones underplayed. The reference primarily to television and radio tended to present an out of date understanding of modern electioneering.
The author deftly portrays the complex relationship between Joanne Kilbourn and Jill Oziowy, a Nation TV reporter and family friend. Though the resolution a tad unrealistic, the dynamics were well-captured and poignantly expressed. Her depiction of Joanne Kilbourn’s friendship with Liz Meighen, the woman’s suffering over the loss of her daughter, Bev Levy plus the manipulation of her developer husband, Graham Meighen and the psychiatrist, Dr. Michael Goetz is also noteworthy. And finally, the author’s description of the poverty-stricken warehouse district and those who live on the edge were brilliantly rendered.
Despite shortcomings, 12 Rose Street is a recommended read.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
Joanne Kilbourn is the main character in this crime novel written by the Canadian author, Gail Bowen. A former political science professor, she is managing the mayoralty campaign of her second husband, Zack Shreve, a paraplegic lawyer. The action occurs in the present during the month of September prior the election. It is set in the impoverished north central district of Regina, Saskatchewan. Solving the murder of a complicated “sleaze slumlord” and the mystery of a home located on “12 Rose Street” drives the plot.
There are nineteen chapters in this three hundred and some paged book. The beginning is weighed down with excessive characters, background information and onerous details. It proves a tedious start but the pace improves in Chapter Six with a murder and twists. Though there is a tendency for filler, in particular Chapter Fourteen’s excessive description of a Thanksgiving weekend, 12 Rose Story tells a compelling tale that succeeds in maintaining reader interest.
With regards other comments, Gail Bowen describes the mechanics, various people and range of responsibilities in an election campaign with clarity. I did find it a shortcoming, however, that the use of social media other than references to computers, twitter and cell phones underplayed. The reference primarily to television and radio tended to present an out of date understanding of modern electioneering.
The author deftly portrays the complex relationship between Joanne Kilbourn and Jill Oziowy, a Nation TV reporter and family friend. Though the resolution a tad unrealistic, the dynamics were well-captured and poignantly expressed. Her depiction of Joanne Kilbourn’s friendship with Liz Meighen, the woman’s suffering over the loss of her daughter, Bev Levy plus the manipulation of her developer husband, Graham Meighen and the psychiatrist, Dr. Michael Goetz is also noteworthy. And finally, the author’s description of the poverty-stricken warehouse district and those who live on the edge were brilliantly rendered.
Despite shortcomings, 12 Rose Street is a recommended read.
Marianne Perry
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
www.marianneperry.ca
