The Protector: Survival and Courage in the Canadian Frontier

by Harold Bindloss

The Protector by Harold Bindloss is about British Columbian immigrant Wallace Vane who lives an adventurous and active life in Canada. "A light breeze was blowing down the inlet, scented with the smell of the firs, and the tiny ripples it chased across the water splashed musically against the bows of the canoe. There was a thud as the blade struck the water, and the long, light hull forged onwards with a slightly lifted, bird's-head prow, while the two men swung forward for the next stroke with a rhythmic grace of motion. They knelt, facing forward, in the bottom of the craft; and dissimilar as they were in features and, to some extent, in character, the likeness between them was stronger than the difference. Both bore the unmistakable stamp of a wholesome life spent in vigorous labor in the open."

506 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1911

About the author

Harold Edward Bindloss (1866 - December 30, 1945) was an English novelist who wrote many adventure novels set in western Canada.

Bindloss was born in Liverpool in 1866. According to his New York Times obituary:

Mr Bindloss was more than 30 years old before he began writing. Previously he had roamed the world, farming in Canada and working in southern climes as a cargo heaver, a planter, and at other jobs.

Broken by malaria he returned to England forty-five years ago and took up office work. But he lost his job when his health broke down and turned to writing in which he found his true vocation. He published some forty novels between the years 1902 and 1943. Many of his books had their locale in Canada. (New York Times, January 2, 1946)

He returned to London. In 1898, he published his first book, a non-fiction account based on his travels in Africa, called In the Niger Country. This was followed by dozens of novels.

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another delightful story of the Canadian frontier by Harold Bindloss. The description of the Canadian wilderness makes you practically feel the scenery and how beautiful and yet threatening it is to the hero. As usual, Bindloss throws in a few unscrupulous men to make things even harder for the hero.

[Henri Moreaux · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Protector, also released in some markets as Vane of the Timberlands, is, in my opinion, a pretty average early 20th century novel.

The novel is set in the time period of writing in western Canada, and the main thrust of the novel related Wallace Vane who has become well off on the back of his copper & silver discovery at the Clermont mine. The guy is a pretty decent bloke who does his best to help others, and some nefarious characters around him take advantage of this as he is off searching for a timber plantation to help some acquaintances.

I found Kyne's Valley of the Giants which is also set in the early 20th century involving a timber business in the USA was a dramatically better novel that was much more engaging, vivid and immersive. The business maneuvering was related to the reader in a more detailed and meaningful way than the abrupt and far too concise manner in which Wallace Vane loses control of Clermont mine whilst he's away looking for timber up the Strait of Georgia.

I'd recommend Valley of Giants over this if your interested in some picturesque early 1900s fiction and don't mind where in North America it is set.