Cradle on the Waves: A Year of Living on Prince Edward Island

by Mae Leveson

A chance opportunity to move to Prince Edward Island is the inspiration behind Mae’s account of leaving the city behind and exchanging it for life in Canada’s smallest province. Here she discovers the beauty of the rolling green hills and the stunning beaches, which attract almost a million visitors each year, as well as the reality of life on an island after the tourist season has ended. She rediscovers that sense of joy, which was missing in her former life, and shares her observations and insights of what it takes to be an Islander.

197 pages, Paperback

Published January 14, 2019

About the author

I’m the author of Cradle on the Waves, which is my first book. I loved reading from an early age and Beatrix Potter was a huge influence. My absolute favourite character is Mrs Tiggy-Winkle. I share Beatrix’s love of the English countryside and the beautiful Lake District, though my roots lie in North Yorkshire. It looks like my roots are showing...

I have a love of cookery books and my kitchen shelves are so full that I will soon be looking for a larger kitchen - how else will I be able to add to my (constantly growing) collection?

I’m happiest in my kitchen, where I am often found baking (yes, I do use many of the cookery books that I own) and enjoy endless cups of tea - Yorkshire Gold, of course.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cradle on the Waves: a Year of Living on Prince Edward Island is Mae Leveson’s debut self-published memoir. Leveson grew up in England and lived in Ontario prior to moving to PEI. While living in Ontario the author became disenchanted with her work and with living in an increasingly expensive city and began planning to relocate to a less expensive area of the country. Leveson and her husband discovered an ad for a house to rent in Prince Edward Island and decided to take the plunge and move to Canada’s smallest province, despite having little knowledge of the Island beyond tourist highlights including lighthouses, red sand beaches, and Cows Ice Cream.
Cradle on the Waves is the memoir of the authors first year living in PEI and discovering that picturesque Island living still comes with downsides. The author details discovering the joy of a newly renovated library and finding a comfortable place in a social knitting club, as well as the disappointment of living with unexpectedly windy weather and limited access to family physicians. Each chapter of the book represents a month in the author’s first year of PEI living with a focus on the day to day activities of living. The format is reminiscent of a collection of journal entries interspersed with brief bits of PEI history or letters home to family in England, full of updates on their adventures in PEI. This book is recommended for readers who enjoy a journal or diary format and those who are interested in reading about PEI from an outsider perspective.

[Eden · Rating 4 out of 5]

2019 bk 295. I really liked what I saw of Prince Edward Island while on my summer vacation. My travel companion and I both even talked about finding a place to rent and moving there for a summer and when I saw this book about living on the island, I had to read it. Mae Leveson was born in Britain and moved to and then married in Canada. She and her husband have not settled in one location, and decided to move to move to the Maritime provinces after years of 'toxic work places'. The book was a joy as she describes enough details of their life to keep me interested and includes places I passed by on the bus and about which I wish I had known more. We visited on a stunningly beautiful day, Mae describes the weather providing almost a weekly glance at how summer provides a short growing season (the flowers were magnificent, the soil must be terrific), the constant wind which goes from gentle breeze to hurricane force, and how bitter the cold is in the winter. Locally we have been gripping about the $2.10 toll to cross the Ohio River - PEIslanders must pay around $47.00 every time they want to leave and cross the Confederation Bridge - I won't be gripping about that again. A lovely book about a lovely island.

[Robin Killoran · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like it....it's set in a place I've wanted to visit for years. But it's more of a weather log than anything else. Occasionally they visit an interesting places or a local festival, or interact with natives to the island....but not often. Clearly she kept a diary and then made it a book, with a minimum of storytelling: disappointing.

[Beverley Gunstone]

Loved it. Will be using it as a guide book next year!🇬🇧🇨🇦