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The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor
Charlotte Taylor lived in the front row of history. In 1775, at the young age of twenty, she fled her English country house and boarded a ship to Jamaica with her lover, the family’s black butler. Soon after reaching shore, Charlotte’s lover died of yellow fever, leaving her alone and pregnant in Jamaica. In the sixty-six years that followed, she would find refuge with the Mi’kmaq of what is present-day New Brunswick, have three husbands, nine more children and a lifelong relationship with an aboriginal man. Using a seamless blend of fact and fiction, Charlotte Taylor's great-great-great-granddaughter, Sally Armstrong, reclaims the life of a dauntless and unusual woman and delivers living history with all the drama and sweep of a novel.
432 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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October 24, 2022
“Stay with the People … we will keep you safe.”
To summarize THE NINE LIVES OF CHARLOTTE TAYLOR is simple enough. It is a fictionalized (and lightly embellished) biography of author Sally Armstrong’s great-great-great-grandmother’s elopement from England with her black lover, her subsequent flight as a new widow from her persecution in Jamaica and her courageous settlement as an unflinching feminist pioneer on the Miramichi River in pre-confederation then Nova Scotia, later New Brunswick Lower Canada. In her preface, Sally Armstrong summarized Charlotte’s outlook masterfully:
“But hers is not a story of a woman in starched white petticoats and a beribboned bonnet, displaced from the Old World and trying to re-create it in the new one. She managed to keep her ten children alive through the American Revolution that was fought on her doorstep, the Indian raids that burned out her neighbours and the droughts and floods and endless winters that challenged her wit and tenacity. She was of this place.”
To my embarrassment as a proud self-proclaimed, forward-thinking pro-feminist Canadian, Sally Armstrong has pulled no punches in demonstrating the historic depth of such national failings as misogyny, racism, anti-immigrant xenophobia, greed, political mismanagement and systemic mistreatment of aboriginal peoples. It’s not a pretty story but it is a gritty, moving and deeply compelling tale of one woman’s courage in the face of astonishing adversity, loss and almost overwhelming obstacles and opposition.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
To summarize THE NINE LIVES OF CHARLOTTE TAYLOR is simple enough. It is a fictionalized (and lightly embellished) biography of author Sally Armstrong’s great-great-great-grandmother’s elopement from England with her black lover, her subsequent flight as a new widow from her persecution in Jamaica and her courageous settlement as an unflinching feminist pioneer on the Miramichi River in pre-confederation then Nova Scotia, later New Brunswick Lower Canada. In her preface, Sally Armstrong summarized Charlotte’s outlook masterfully:
“But hers is not a story of a woman in starched white petticoats and a beribboned bonnet, displaced from the Old World and trying to re-create it in the new one. She managed to keep her ten children alive through the American Revolution that was fought on her doorstep, the Indian raids that burned out her neighbours and the droughts and floods and endless winters that challenged her wit and tenacity. She was of this place.”
To my embarrassment as a proud self-proclaimed, forward-thinking pro-feminist Canadian, Sally Armstrong has pulled no punches in demonstrating the historic depth of such national failings as misogyny, racism, anti-immigrant xenophobia, greed, political mismanagement and systemic mistreatment of aboriginal peoples. It’s not a pretty story but it is a gritty, moving and deeply compelling tale of one woman’s courage in the face of astonishing adversity, loss and almost overwhelming obstacles and opposition.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
February 1, 2021
“The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor” by Sally Armstrong
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I absolutely loved reading this book very well written and researched. It’s a true story based in 1775 the trials, strength and heartache Charlotte Taylor endures being the first white woman to pioneer the land which is now called New Brunswick in Canada. Charlotte was married three times and raised a family of ten children. Being that I am Canadian this made the story very dear to my heart.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I absolutely loved reading this book very well written and researched. It’s a true story based in 1775 the trials, strength and heartache Charlotte Taylor endures being the first white woman to pioneer the land which is now called New Brunswick in Canada. Charlotte was married three times and raised a family of ten children. Being that I am Canadian this made the story very dear to my heart.
November 4, 2022
I struggled through 200+ pages and just couldn’t force myself to go on. It’s likely the author’s attempt to dramatize the story that made it feel unreal.
Since Charlotte Taylor was indeed a real person I found it more interesting to read about her on the Internet without all the embellishments.
https://charlottetaylor.ca/
Since Charlotte Taylor was indeed a real person I found it more interesting to read about her on the Internet without all the embellishments.
https://charlottetaylor.ca/
November 7, 2016
3.5 - 4.0 stars. Sally Armstrong says that she took a number of liberties with the true history of her relative, Charlotte Taylor, which led to a book of fiction. Nevertheless it is chock full of accurate history of the early years of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, in the late 1700s, when settlements were sparse and living conditions even more spare.
Charlotte Taylor's story had been handed down orally for generations, and it was an exceptional one. Author Armstrong has used conjecture to imagine the beginning of the illustrious doyenne's first journey, travelling from England to Jamaica with her lover and family's black butler. Pregnant and alone after his unexpected death, Charlotte evades returning to her parents and sets out to find a life in the New World. In the course of over sixty years in her new homeland, Charlotte would outlive three husbands, give birth to ten children, fight to become the first woman in Nova Scotia to have property owned in her name and not her husband's, learn valuable husbandry skills from the Micmac Indians and retain an enduring friendship with them which protected her through uprisings connected to the American Colonists and see the lands she had immigrated to become vastly changed.
Her story is a fascinating one, as is the period in Canadian history. The French had been defeated and its eight thousand settlers, the Acadians, were removed to either France or Louisiana, still under French rule. Some hid out and stayed, or returned during the tumult of the War of Independence with the Thirteen Colonies, leaving their Cajun mates in Louisiana. The Maritime provinces were hardly attended to by Britain, and the first settlers had to depend on each other for everything. No schools, policing, etc. and an uneasy relationship with the local tribes, who were gradually understanding the consequences of the white man's lust to cultivate the land. This was Charlotte Taylor's world.
The novel lagged a bit midway through, more heavy on details of hard weather, attacking Indians and a sea ambush of chiefs, which all were in accord with the times but were without much character. Fortunately, life with Charlotte in all its interesting chaos resumed and maintained a steady, illuminating pace until the novel's conclusion.
It was a great experience for me to revisit that period of time, in Eastern Canada. My early childhood years had been spent in Quebec; I was saturated with settlement history then. I also had a broad reference for the topography, having visited the Maritimes. As well, my children have United Empire Loyalist ancestors, some named in the Canadian Encyclopedia. Reading about the earlier settlers was fascinating.
Definitely a great book for history lovers, Canadian history lovers or just interested readers!
Charlotte Taylor's story had been handed down orally for generations, and it was an exceptional one. Author Armstrong has used conjecture to imagine the beginning of the illustrious doyenne's first journey, travelling from England to Jamaica with her lover and family's black butler. Pregnant and alone after his unexpected death, Charlotte evades returning to her parents and sets out to find a life in the New World. In the course of over sixty years in her new homeland, Charlotte would outlive three husbands, give birth to ten children, fight to become the first woman in Nova Scotia to have property owned in her name and not her husband's, learn valuable husbandry skills from the Micmac Indians and retain an enduring friendship with them which protected her through uprisings connected to the American Colonists and see the lands she had immigrated to become vastly changed.
Her story is a fascinating one, as is the period in Canadian history. The French had been defeated and its eight thousand settlers, the Acadians, were removed to either France or Louisiana, still under French rule. Some hid out and stayed, or returned during the tumult of the War of Independence with the Thirteen Colonies, leaving their Cajun mates in Louisiana. The Maritime provinces were hardly attended to by Britain, and the first settlers had to depend on each other for everything. No schools, policing, etc. and an uneasy relationship with the local tribes, who were gradually understanding the consequences of the white man's lust to cultivate the land. This was Charlotte Taylor's world.
The novel lagged a bit midway through, more heavy on details of hard weather, attacking Indians and a sea ambush of chiefs, which all were in accord with the times but were without much character. Fortunately, life with Charlotte in all its interesting chaos resumed and maintained a steady, illuminating pace until the novel's conclusion.
It was a great experience for me to revisit that period of time, in Eastern Canada. My early childhood years had been spent in Quebec; I was saturated with settlement history then. I also had a broad reference for the topography, having visited the Maritimes. As well, my children have United Empire Loyalist ancestors, some named in the Canadian Encyclopedia. Reading about the earlier settlers was fascinating.
Definitely a great book for history lovers, Canadian history lovers or just interested readers!
September 2, 2008
What a delight it was to read this fictionalized historical depiction of the life of Charlotte Taylor on the Baie des Chaleurs written by her great-great grandaugher. Sally Armstrong's passion comes through. I think she spent many childhood hours imagining Charlotte's life. I loved this book and was inspired by its depiction of an amazing woman/pioneer in the 1700's. This is what is missing from our history books!
July 23, 2014
This book of creative non-fiction describes the life of Charlotte Howe Taylor (daughter of English general Charles Howe Taylor), who rebelled against the strict and stifling life of a young English lady and fled to Jamaica in 1775 with her lover, the family butler, Pad Willisams. Pad had expected help from relatives who he believed were in Jamaica, but he died soon after arriving without having found any relatives.
Dreading the life of a woman alone in Jamaica, Charlotte managed to board a trading ship bound for the eastern coast of North America. (The destination was the Baie de Chaleur, which was at that time in the large colonial Province of Nova Scotia.) The ship's captain, who she discovered was a friend of her father, surmised her identity and (fortunately for Charlotte) ensured her safety both while on board ship and during the first years of her life in Nova Scotia.
The book tells a gripping tale of a determined and feisty woman who outlived three husbands and yet managed to provide for her nine children. It follows her from the community of native people (the People of the Salmon) who cared for and taught her during her first winter at Baie de Chaleur; to her homestead with Captain John Blake (and, following his death, William Wishart and then Philip Hierlihy) at Miramichi; and later to a new settlement at Tabusintac. There were many daily challenges which included building and maintaining a home to withstand the harsh winters; making clothing for the whole family from animal skins; gardening, cooking, and storing food for winter; surviving as a family in isolation indoors during the snowbound winter months; and accepting and adapting to the occasional wrath of the ocean and the weather. In addition, these were politically tumultous times in eastern Canada and the settlers learned to protect their families from invasion and their land from re-allocation to "new" settlers (following the formation of New Brunswick).
This book touched me deeply. As the granddaughter of early immigrant settlers on the Canadian prairie 100 years later, I imagine my grandparents and my mother and her siblings living much as Charlotte and her family did. As a Canadian who chose over forty years ago to live in the Maritime Provinces, but who never bothered to study the history of the region, I am grateful for this introduction to the fascinating stories. As a person who attended secondary school with young people from a nearby Indian residential school, I mourn the greed and arrogance of the white people who assumed they had a right to take ownership of the land on this continent.
This is truly an exceptional book about an exceptional woman who survived life in a harsh land on her own terms and whose story is remembered by thousands of descendants and now can be enjoyed by all.
Dreading the life of a woman alone in Jamaica, Charlotte managed to board a trading ship bound for the eastern coast of North America. (The destination was the Baie de Chaleur, which was at that time in the large colonial Province of Nova Scotia.) The ship's captain, who she discovered was a friend of her father, surmised her identity and (fortunately for Charlotte) ensured her safety both while on board ship and during the first years of her life in Nova Scotia.
The book tells a gripping tale of a determined and feisty woman who outlived three husbands and yet managed to provide for her nine children. It follows her from the community of native people (the People of the Salmon) who cared for and taught her during her first winter at Baie de Chaleur; to her homestead with Captain John Blake (and, following his death, William Wishart and then Philip Hierlihy) at Miramichi; and later to a new settlement at Tabusintac. There were many daily challenges which included building and maintaining a home to withstand the harsh winters; making clothing for the whole family from animal skins; gardening, cooking, and storing food for winter; surviving as a family in isolation indoors during the snowbound winter months; and accepting and adapting to the occasional wrath of the ocean and the weather. In addition, these were politically tumultous times in eastern Canada and the settlers learned to protect their families from invasion and their land from re-allocation to "new" settlers (following the formation of New Brunswick).
This book touched me deeply. As the granddaughter of early immigrant settlers on the Canadian prairie 100 years later, I imagine my grandparents and my mother and her siblings living much as Charlotte and her family did. As a Canadian who chose over forty years ago to live in the Maritime Provinces, but who never bothered to study the history of the region, I am grateful for this introduction to the fascinating stories. As a person who attended secondary school with young people from a nearby Indian residential school, I mourn the greed and arrogance of the white people who assumed they had a right to take ownership of the land on this continent.
This is truly an exceptional book about an exceptional woman who survived life in a harsh land on her own terms and whose story is remembered by thousands of descendants and now can be enjoyed by all.
June 19, 2013
Pretty disappointed in this book. At many points I wanted to give up on it but stuck it out. Interesting from a historical standpoint but really it just wasn't well written. The characters weren't well developed - even the central figure of Charlotte Taylor. At times I found myself rolling my eyes at the descriptions - Charlotte's "feistiness". I got the sense the author felt she needed to include a bunch of historical details that she'd researched and never really focused on developing the plot or characters. Too bad!
May 25, 2016
How Do You Celebrate Your Ancestors' Stories? Book Review: 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
August 24, 2024
What a fantastic story, I was surprised by how much I loved this novel. An incredible woman who was way ahead of her time in the late 1700s, woven with a fictional account to tie in all the hard facts of her life. Written by her great-great-great granddaughter. She did Charlotte Taylor justice!
October 23, 2011
There are things I loved about this book and things I didn't like at all. Let's start with the good stuff.
The book is set in New Brunswick, Canada where I have lived all my life, so I recognized the place names, the weather conditions, the season changes, etc. I absolutely love reading about local history and this book is full of it. It tells the story of Charlotte Taylor (an actual historical figure) from the time she arrives as a young woman in the unsettled wilds of 1700's New Brunswick through her marriages, children and various living situations until her death in 1841. The bones of the story are true, the fleshing out is fictional.
It is a fascinating story and quite well told. It gives a nicely detailed picture of what daily life was like for the brave souls who settled in the Miramichi river area in the very early days. Their interactions with the native people who were here long, long before the white man and with the Acadian people who endured a shattering expulsion in 1755, make for a story full of beauty, suspense and pathos.
However. In the first half of the book I sometimes wished Charlotte had had less than nine lives. As interesting as she was, I found myself wishing things would move along a little more quickly and checking to see how many pages were left to the end. Then in the second half, and especially close to the end, years would pass with the turn of a page and in one place five years passed between paragraphs. I wish the tempo of the story had been a little more regular.
Another thing I didn't like was that the entire book is written in the present tense. Not "She thought" but "She thinks"; not "The summer of 1825 was hot" but "The summer of 1825 is hot". I found having the entire story written that way a little disconcerting. It seemed to halt the flow of words at times. Or something. I'm not sure why I didn't like it, it just felt strange.
There was one more thing I didn't like: Charlotte herself, especially in the latter years of her life. Of course there's no way to know what her real personality was like, but in the book I found her stubborn and lacking in compassion at times. On one hand it's realistic that every character has faults, on the other hand I didn't find her an appealing character.
Overall I'm glad I read it. It was good to learn some local history and it really is interesting. I recommend it to anyone looking for a good pioneer tale. It's not a great book, but it is a good story.
The book is set in New Brunswick, Canada where I have lived all my life, so I recognized the place names, the weather conditions, the season changes, etc. I absolutely love reading about local history and this book is full of it. It tells the story of Charlotte Taylor (an actual historical figure) from the time she arrives as a young woman in the unsettled wilds of 1700's New Brunswick through her marriages, children and various living situations until her death in 1841. The bones of the story are true, the fleshing out is fictional.
It is a fascinating story and quite well told. It gives a nicely detailed picture of what daily life was like for the brave souls who settled in the Miramichi river area in the very early days. Their interactions with the native people who were here long, long before the white man and with the Acadian people who endured a shattering expulsion in 1755, make for a story full of beauty, suspense and pathos.
However. In the first half of the book I sometimes wished Charlotte had had less than nine lives. As interesting as she was, I found myself wishing things would move along a little more quickly and checking to see how many pages were left to the end. Then in the second half, and especially close to the end, years would pass with the turn of a page and in one place five years passed between paragraphs. I wish the tempo of the story had been a little more regular.
Another thing I didn't like was that the entire book is written in the present tense. Not "She thought" but "She thinks"; not "The summer of 1825 was hot" but "The summer of 1825 is hot". I found having the entire story written that way a little disconcerting. It seemed to halt the flow of words at times. Or something. I'm not sure why I didn't like it, it just felt strange.
There was one more thing I didn't like: Charlotte herself, especially in the latter years of her life. Of course there's no way to know what her real personality was like, but in the book I found her stubborn and lacking in compassion at times. On one hand it's realistic that every character has faults, on the other hand I didn't find her an appealing character.
Overall I'm glad I read it. It was good to learn some local history and it really is interesting. I recommend it to anyone looking for a good pioneer tale. It's not a great book, but it is a good story.
August 18, 2015
If you are a reader who enjoys books about strong independent women, you will enjoy this volume of historical fiction based on the true life of one of Canada’s pioneers.
Charlotte Taylor was high born and British, living with her family in eighteenth century England where she had a privileged life. When she was twenty, she fled with her lover, the family’s black butler, to Jamaica in the West Indies to lead a different life with the man she loved. She was already four months pregnant with their first child.
After arriving on the hot humid island, her husband was soon felled by yellow fever and died. Charlotte had to decide her next steps. Determined not to stay for fear she would be forced to become a concubine of one of the rich men in order to survive, she escaped on a ship with Commodore George Wallace. He was a sea captain and privateer who operated a prosperous trading post in the northern regions of America in a place called Nepisiguit. He warned her it was cold and isolated there, but Charlotte believed that the isolation would serve her well, helping her to begin a new life.
After she arrived in Nepisiguit, there was news of a rebellion in the Southern States. The Americans were determined to rid themselves of their British yoke and were demanding independence. They had pushed north, determined to intercept the supply ships that supported the British forces. But they also interfered with the supply lines the settlers depended on. George was forced to leave Charlotte behind as he travelled to Quebec to meet with the other officers. But before he left, he organized for a ship to take Charlotte back to Britain. However, Charlotte was determined not to go. She had kept her pregnancy hidden and knew she could never return to her father’s house. While George was away, she fled to the nearby Mi’kmaq camp where she had made friends with the Indians and the Acadians. They sheltered her and helped her deliver her first child. It was also in this small native village that Charlotte met Wioche, the Indian known as the Traveller, who watched over her for many years.
After the birth, Charlotte returned to Wallace’s home. There she met John Blake a man who sought a wife. She also sought a husband, and so the two married and moved to his property on the Miramichi. There she helped clear the land and establish a new homestead, lived through cold, brutal winters, survived Indian and rebel attacks and terrible fires. She competently cared for her family through bouts of starvation and disease. Through it all, it was the ways the Mikmaq and Acadians had taught her that helped her survive and she maintained her links with them throughout her life, helping them whenever she could. She also came to understand the importance of the land and as her husbands died and she remarried and had more children, her first priority was always to solidify ownership of her property.
As the hostilities over land titles waged among her neighbours and there was crowding from dozens of disgruntled Loyalists on the Miramichi, Charlotte’s family decided to leave and establish a new homestead on the river by the Tabisintack. There, they once again cleared the land and created a property that would house and sustain their large family.
One cannot help but admire Charlotte. She was the object of much gossip throughout her lifetime, not only because she had a strong will and several husbands, but also because she dared to believe she should have title to the lands of her deceased husbands, land that she had helped to clear and settle through her own hard labour. And then there was also the lifelong relationship she had with the Indian Wioche, which also caused tongues to wag. Charlotte coped with it all by simply ignoring their stares and gossip.
It is interesting to see how Charlotte came to realize over the years that everything she wanted and tried to secure for her family, helped to undo the security of her friends, the Mi'kmaq and the Acadians. The land she was obsessed about securing belonged to the Mi'kmaq and was taken from their hands. She finally understood that she was not blameless in the M’kmaq's poor view of the British.
In her lifetime Charlotte had two lovers, three husbands, and ten children. She was the first British woman to settle in what is now known as New Brunswick, and when she died in her eighties she had more than seventy grandchildren. Her descendants are presently listed at over two thousand.
The author Sally Armstrong, is the great, great, great granddaughter of Charlotte Taylor. She took over ten years to research this book and where she could not find the bridges to link the facts she collected, she crafted fictional links in order to reconstruct the story of Charlotte’s life. Charlotte’s diary, often cited throughout the novel, is fiction as well as the character of Wioche her Mi’kmaq lover. However, Armstrong is convinced Charlotte had a relationship with an Aboriginal man.
The story contains interesting descriptions of Acadian, Loyalist and Mi’kmaq history as well as descriptions of many of the Mikmaq legends and beliefs. It is well paced, as the story moves quickly through the years and is marked by historical events. It is not always clear on reading what is fact and what is fiction and perhaps Armstrong has created in Charlotte a character that is too strong to be believed, but it still tells an interesting tale that makes for a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Charlotte Taylor was high born and British, living with her family in eighteenth century England where she had a privileged life. When she was twenty, she fled with her lover, the family’s black butler, to Jamaica in the West Indies to lead a different life with the man she loved. She was already four months pregnant with their first child.
After arriving on the hot humid island, her husband was soon felled by yellow fever and died. Charlotte had to decide her next steps. Determined not to stay for fear she would be forced to become a concubine of one of the rich men in order to survive, she escaped on a ship with Commodore George Wallace. He was a sea captain and privateer who operated a prosperous trading post in the northern regions of America in a place called Nepisiguit. He warned her it was cold and isolated there, but Charlotte believed that the isolation would serve her well, helping her to begin a new life.
After she arrived in Nepisiguit, there was news of a rebellion in the Southern States. The Americans were determined to rid themselves of their British yoke and were demanding independence. They had pushed north, determined to intercept the supply ships that supported the British forces. But they also interfered with the supply lines the settlers depended on. George was forced to leave Charlotte behind as he travelled to Quebec to meet with the other officers. But before he left, he organized for a ship to take Charlotte back to Britain. However, Charlotte was determined not to go. She had kept her pregnancy hidden and knew she could never return to her father’s house. While George was away, she fled to the nearby Mi’kmaq camp where she had made friends with the Indians and the Acadians. They sheltered her and helped her deliver her first child. It was also in this small native village that Charlotte met Wioche, the Indian known as the Traveller, who watched over her for many years.
After the birth, Charlotte returned to Wallace’s home. There she met John Blake a man who sought a wife. She also sought a husband, and so the two married and moved to his property on the Miramichi. There she helped clear the land and establish a new homestead, lived through cold, brutal winters, survived Indian and rebel attacks and terrible fires. She competently cared for her family through bouts of starvation and disease. Through it all, it was the ways the Mikmaq and Acadians had taught her that helped her survive and she maintained her links with them throughout her life, helping them whenever she could. She also came to understand the importance of the land and as her husbands died and she remarried and had more children, her first priority was always to solidify ownership of her property.
As the hostilities over land titles waged among her neighbours and there was crowding from dozens of disgruntled Loyalists on the Miramichi, Charlotte’s family decided to leave and establish a new homestead on the river by the Tabisintack. There, they once again cleared the land and created a property that would house and sustain their large family.
One cannot help but admire Charlotte. She was the object of much gossip throughout her lifetime, not only because she had a strong will and several husbands, but also because she dared to believe she should have title to the lands of her deceased husbands, land that she had helped to clear and settle through her own hard labour. And then there was also the lifelong relationship she had with the Indian Wioche, which also caused tongues to wag. Charlotte coped with it all by simply ignoring their stares and gossip.
It is interesting to see how Charlotte came to realize over the years that everything she wanted and tried to secure for her family, helped to undo the security of her friends, the Mi'kmaq and the Acadians. The land she was obsessed about securing belonged to the Mi'kmaq and was taken from their hands. She finally understood that she was not blameless in the M’kmaq's poor view of the British.
In her lifetime Charlotte had two lovers, three husbands, and ten children. She was the first British woman to settle in what is now known as New Brunswick, and when she died in her eighties she had more than seventy grandchildren. Her descendants are presently listed at over two thousand.
The author Sally Armstrong, is the great, great, great granddaughter of Charlotte Taylor. She took over ten years to research this book and where she could not find the bridges to link the facts she collected, she crafted fictional links in order to reconstruct the story of Charlotte’s life. Charlotte’s diary, often cited throughout the novel, is fiction as well as the character of Wioche her Mi’kmaq lover. However, Armstrong is convinced Charlotte had a relationship with an Aboriginal man.
The story contains interesting descriptions of Acadian, Loyalist and Mi’kmaq history as well as descriptions of many of the Mikmaq legends and beliefs. It is well paced, as the story moves quickly through the years and is marked by historical events. It is not always clear on reading what is fact and what is fiction and perhaps Armstrong has created in Charlotte a character that is too strong to be believed, but it still tells an interesting tale that makes for a thoroughly enjoyable read.
May 8, 2024
L’un des meilleurs romans historiques que j'ai eu la chance de lire depuis longtemps. La vie d’une femme pionnière arrivée d’Angleterre et qui a façonné ce qui est maintenant le Nouveau-Brunswick.
October 2, 2025
Poor poor Charlotte :(
September 30, 2025
when nana gives you a book you never know if it’s gonna be good or not but happy to report this book scratched an itch in my brain i didn’t know that i needed scratched. but like i just hope in another lifetime her and wioche are together forever the whole entire time ❤️❤️
February 6, 2017
I enjoyed this story about the first woman settler of the Miramichi. Although it was a good story, what I enjoyed the most was that it is based on a true story, and is in fact written by her great-great-great granddaughter.
There were moments where I felt that the book wasn't that well written, and that maybe more detail could be given. Also, there were a few typos that bothered me as I read, but I generally enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it.
What an amazing woman to have successfully lived through so much difficulty and hardship.
There were moments where I felt that the book wasn't that well written, and that maybe more detail could be given. Also, there were a few typos that bothered me as I read, but I generally enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it.
What an amazing woman to have successfully lived through so much difficulty and hardship.
January 18, 2009
Setting moves from England,1774, to Jamaica, as Charlotte leaves her staid family with her lover, the family's black butler. He dies in Jamaica leaving her pregnant and defenseless. Intrepid, she finds her way to northern New Brunswick, a remote, undeveloped outpost and is caught up in the French/English politics of the time. One of her saviors is Native, and life in a native community teaches Charlotte survival skills. The author is a journalist and Charlotte is her own forebear. Stories have come down through family legend and research. Some dialogue is stilted to serve a purpose rather than develop a character, but on the whole the book is very informative of the times and diverse cultures.
April 20, 2021
A well born, educated young girl living in England has a rebellious streak and runs away from home with the family butler. To the West Indies. Where he dies. And she is pregnant. This is our introduction to Charlotte Taylor. She decides she can’t stay there and manages passage on a ship going north into what is now New Brunswick, a rustic territory in Canada.
The story is set just before the American Revolution and the rough territory is fought over by Indians, Acadians, Loyalists and rebels. It’s interesting to look at the revolution from a Canadian point of view.
Charlotte is resourceful, willing to work hard and receives useful advice from the Indian women about preparing food, medicinal qualities of plants and living in a wilderness. Daily life is nonstop hard work and is spelled out in detail. It’s a hard pioneer life but Charlotte thrives. The book reads like a novel but is essentially true.
The story is set just before the American Revolution and the rough territory is fought over by Indians, Acadians, Loyalists and rebels. It’s interesting to look at the revolution from a Canadian point of view.
Charlotte is resourceful, willing to work hard and receives useful advice from the Indian women about preparing food, medicinal qualities of plants and living in a wilderness. Daily life is nonstop hard work and is spelled out in detail. It’s a hard pioneer life but Charlotte thrives. The book reads like a novel but is essentially true.
August 4, 2025
An interesting read about one of the first white woman settlers of the Miramichi. The book chronicles her life with four husbands and at least ten children and their children. The historical component of the division of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia is outlined as well as the occupations of those lands by various Indian tribes and the Acadiens. Charlotte Taylor ‘s life indeed came with many struggles and challenges but her love of family and this wilderness land was focal to her uniqueness and ability to survive in man’s world.
April 20, 2021
This book is really neat, I enjoyed reading about the lives of early women colonialists in the Maritimes. It is written from a feminist perspective and has some intersectionality with the destruction of the lives of the indigenous populations living in the area at the time which is missing from most historical novels/accounts. It's not perfect in its intersectionality but there is an effort.
October 15, 2025
J’ai bien aimé me transporter dans les débuts de colonisation du NB, surtout que ça se passe dans un endroit près de chez nous. C’est impressionnant de voir à quelle point ces gens ont ete débrouillards avec si peu.
December 3, 2017
What a fascinating fictionalized account of a woman in the 1770s that migrated to what is now known as Maritimes, New Brunswick, Canada.
January 9, 2019
Fascinating, especially if, like me, you don't know much about Canadian history.
This book, based on a real woman, recreates the life of one of the first settlers in northern New Brunswick, and tells the story of a woman and her several husbands and many children struggling to survive in their harsh new home.
This book, based on a real woman, recreates the life of one of the first settlers in northern New Brunswick, and tells the story of a woman and her several husbands and many children struggling to survive in their harsh new home.
March 7, 2024
A fascinating story of an intrepid woman who settled in New Brunswick and was the first whites woman to do so. Her respect for the indigenous peoples was as deep as her resilience in hard times. She had ten children, over 70 grandchildren and now thousands of descendants. I heard of her through my brother in law who is one of those descendants.
July 8, 2024
Not a bad book per se, just too earnest and one-dimensional. It felt like the videos we had to watch in Socials class in high school.
September 14, 2025
This is about my great grandmother x 4 or x 5 ??? Overall such a cool thing to know that my direct relative was the first female settler in NB… and first female land owner in NB … and was a really cool and incredibly heart working lady. This was not my regular book style tbh so it took me a while to read as there was a lot of history wound into this- but still cool to learn about my province.
July 26, 2018
Charlotte Taylor's story should be shared in every Grade 10 History class. As Canadians, we need to hear the voices of people other than just European men. The lives of women settlers in Canada and the indigenous people who helped them survive in the wilderness are so much more interesting than the ones about the wars that were constantly being fought.
April 12, 2013
This book is based on the life of a real person, Charlotte Taylor, who fled her upper class family in England with her lover, the family's black butler in the late 1770's. She eventually ends up in northern New Brunswick. Most of the book occurs there and it relates her life with 3 husbands,and 11 or 12 children fathered by 4 different men. Although the book is based on a true person, it has been "fleshed out" with fictional facts. It was a turbulent time with the American Revolution, changing laws and land ownership issues, including the Acadian expulsion. I really enjoyed the book for several reasons.I am from southern New Brunswick so many of the names and places were familiar to me. I love history and I enjoy reading about the lives of women from different historical eras, cultures and societies.
This is purely a personal issue, but I always find the mixture of history and fiction frustrating. Determining what is real and what isn't. I understand why authors use this approach but I would rather read one or the other.
I found her use of description well done but I found her writing style wasa bit disjointed and it didn't always flow smoothly. All in all I really enjoyed this book and do recommend it. It was a library book, but I will buy it for future rereads.
This is purely a personal issue, but I always find the mixture of history and fiction frustrating. Determining what is real and what isn't. I understand why authors use this approach but I would rather read one or the other.
I found her use of description well done but I found her writing style wasa bit disjointed and it didn't always flow smoothly. All in all I really enjoyed this book and do recommend it. It was a library book, but I will buy it for future rereads.
May 12, 2016
I really wanted to love this book. The premise intrigued me from the beginning and I have been looking forward to it for some time. However, I became increasingly frustrated as it appeared that the Indigenous representation was barely more than the Noble Savage trope and Charlotte appeared to go through this whole ordeal with all kinds of survival skills I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have learned from her genteel upbringing in England. I felt this was somewhat redeemed by the intensity of the history portrayed and the whirlwind of 1770s Nova Scotia (now New Brunswick)--I have never been that interested in the settlement of Canada but this had me running to the history books to look up references and context. My Canadian history had started at the rebellions of 1837 (which are quite dry), so to be sucked in by the oppression of the British and the alliance of the Mi'kmaq and Acadians was surprising. I'm still not sure I believe some of the story that Sally Armstrong has crafted, but it was a wild ride and I will definitely be looking out for similar stories (The Orenda being the next on my list, and hopefully more truthful).
March 14, 2010
It's not a terribly well-written book, from a literary perspective, or from a straight plot perspective either. But I did enjoy it because it's the first time I've read even a half-decent fictional story about my heritage, my home, my history. I grew up in Bathurst New Brunswick, on the Baie de Chaleur, and I really did love reading about all these places I'd grown up around - Tabusintac, the Miramichi River, even the passing mentions of places like Burnt Church and Neguac.
Even more than that, it was a history of the people that came through - the Acadians, the Mikmaq, the original settlers and the Loyalists. It made me embarassed I didn't know more of the history of where I came from - but I still enjoyed the story and what I learned.
If you're interested in that history, it's worth a read. Otherwise, probably not. I enjoyed it, though.
Even more than that, it was a history of the people that came through - the Acadians, the Mikmaq, the original settlers and the Loyalists. It made me embarassed I didn't know more of the history of where I came from - but I still enjoyed the story and what I learned.
If you're interested in that history, it's worth a read. Otherwise, probably not. I enjoyed it, though.
January 8, 2017
4 1/2 stars as I really enjoyed this epic tale about Charlotte Taylor, a young British gentlewoman who flees England with her black lover, sails to the West Indies, where he dies, sails to New Brunswick, and spends the next 60-odd years befriending First Nations People, and Acadians, marrying, bearing children, settling the land, and fighting for rights. The book is written by one of Charlotte's ancestors, who uses archival information and family lore to create a fictional account based on real events and people. I found it fascinating perhaps b/c I have a connection to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, a connection to the Acadian name Landry, and a true appreciation for women who have created the life that they desire. This is truly an inspiring story and a fascinating tale of life as an early settler in Canada.
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