The Briars Between: An Emily Twillum Adventure

by Andrew Sibbald

Thirteen-year-old Emily enjoys her life on the Briars estate in Jackson’s Point, Ontario, where, up until recently, things have been quiet and peaceful. For the past four years, Emily and her parents have lived in a wing of the manor, looking after the Briars property and the elderly Miss Bessie Sibbald, who was like a grandmother to Emily, and who has recently passed away. In the wake of her death, Emily’s world feels a little less sunny. Nonetheless, she looks forward to summer, as always, when she gets to spend time with her friends, Jewish cottagers Rachel and Benjamin, and Jimmy from the nearby Chippewa reserve.

It is the year 1919—an unsettled time in Canada, post-war, the Spanish flu pandemic just starting to ease—and with change in the air, Emily’s plans for a fun summer quickly begin to unravel. The government places more impositions on the Chippewas, directly affecting Jimmy and his family. Antisemitic activity has followed Rachel and Benjamin from Toronto. Then Emily discovers that her family’s future at the Briars is at risk.

Amidst concerns over her changing world and body, Emily starts to negotiate a different kind of summer.

And those spirits who’ve been taking her dreamwalking—are they helping, or not?

The Briars Between is the first Emily Twillum Adventures novel. Built around the author’s family history, Emily’s story is an ode to the Briars property, a coming-of-age saga, and a fictional exploration of a turbulent time in Canadian history.

228 pages, Hardcover

First published November 27, 2024

Reviews

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really loving this series even if I'm not always sure what's going on with the three spirits that she picked up in the first book. This is one of those quiet books that works its way into your heart and mind as Emily grows up in post WWI Canada during a time when she has privileges she didn't realize were privileges, by virtue of her being white and Christian. While I was aware of that there was a belief rampant in the white population that Indigenous people were less than, I did not realize that racism against Chinese and Jewish people were just as bad. I really like that the author has incorporated historical people (including his great grandaunt) with fictional characters who are representative of the time. Emily is a wonderful protagonist with good friends and amazing parents. I also love Emily and her friends' love of ciphers adding another fun element to the story. Another fun thing is the author's incorporation of books like Anne of Green Gables (which Emily is currently reading) and Little Women, which is introduced near the end of this book. There's a section at the end that lists all the characters in the book (including the three spirits) where the author explains who they are and if they are truly fictional or historical characters.

I'm really hoping that this author becomes more widely read. I was sharing this book with my older sister (who is a middle school librarian) and she was saying that none of the books were available in their system. I'll be sharing this review on Amazon, as well as my library, and hope that they will take a chance on this book. I highly recommend it!

I received an advance review copy for free from BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Ron Grimes · Rating 4 out of 5]

My wife and I recently had a stay at The Briars resort and I saw the book "The Briars Between" there; I later purchased an e-copy to read. My wife had organized the trip and I had no knowledge of the history of the resort before going.

The book makes an interesting companion to a stay at The Briars. Just looking around the resort and around Jackson's Point, I could feel the hidden stories aching to come out. While the book is historical fiction, I recognized many of the physical settings and it was easy to place Jackson's Point back into the book's 1919 setting.

The story gives a good picture of a comfortable working class life after the Great War. At the story level I found a couple of (perhaps more) chronoclasms (2020's language placed into 1919) which detracted a bit from the flow of the narrative.

I found the political sensitivity interesting. Compared to other books I have read of the time and general region (Alice Munro, etc.) there was much more attention paid to the predicaments and obstacles faced by the Chippewa ("Indians" in 1919-speak), and the Jewish holiday-makers to the Lake Simcoe area. A Chinese family is also introduced, but I think there is more of their history in the appendices.

In fact, I found the Appendices at least as interesting as the plot of the book. The coverage of the historical injustices, the engineering of Lake Simcoe along with changes to the land give an indication where the author's sympathies lie with regards to land colonization and those who are not of the governing set.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this historical fiction that also had a touch of whimsy. The author did a great job describing life in Jackson's Point in 1919 through Emily's interactions with the varied people in her life, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading and learning about the history of some of the people who lived then and how they lived. With living in the area myself for the past 16 years and knowing the Briars Resort, I enjoyed the additional information about some of the real people and learning from the maps included in the book what it looked like back then. Through the story, the author addresses well the issues the Georgina Chippewas were experiencing with colonialism, as well as prejudices towards the Jewish community and others. These issues continue to be very relevant today in our world.

[Sara Jesus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based in the writer family history, this is the story of lovely Emily, that just like Anne Shirley, loves to be wild and free. This book is full of friendships, nature love and pure moments of joy. Also Emily have to deal with the antiseminism and the racism that was invand her community.