Acadian Driftwood: One Family and the Great Expulsion

by Tyler LeBlanc

Winner, 2021 Evelyn Richardson Award for Non-Fiction, 2021 Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing
Shortlisted, 2021 Dartmouth Book Award for Non-Fiction, and the 2021 Margaret and John Savage Award for Best First Book (Non-fiction)
A Hill Times' 100 Best Books in 2020 Selection
On Canada's History Bestseller List

Growing up on the south shore of Nova Scotia, Tyler LeBlanc wasn’t fully aware of his family’s Acadian roots — until a chance encounter with an Acadian historian prompted him to delve into his family history. LeBlanc’s discovery that he could trace his family all the way to the time of the Acadian Expulsion and beyond forms the basis of this compelling account of Le Grand Dérangement.

Piecing together his family history through archival documents, Tyler LeBlanc tells the story of Joseph LeBlanc (his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather), Joseph’s ten siblings, and their families. With descendants scattered across modern-day Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, the LeBlancs provide a window into the diverse fates that awaited the Acadians when they were expelled from their homeland. Some escaped the deportation and were able to retreat into the wilderness. Others found their way back to Acadie. But many were exiled to Britain, France, or the future United States, where they faced suspicion and prejudice and struggled to settle into new lives.

A unique biographical approach to the history of the Expulsion, Acadian Driftwood is a vivid insight into one family’s experience of this traumatic event.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Canada, Biography

184 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 2, 2020

About the author

I'm an author, a screenwriter, and a storyteller. I was born and raised in a small Anglophone fishing village on Nova Scotia’s south shore, entirely unaware of my Acadian heritage until a few years ago. It was this dissonance with my own family's identity that inspired the creation of Acadian Driftwood.

Told through the eyes of my Acadian ancestors on their journey through the horrors of the eighteenth-century deportations that scattered them across the globe and almost destroyed their culture, it is an account of a dark chapter in Canada’s history and a tale of discovery — discovery of heritage, of family, and, ultimately, of identity.

Reviews

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book told me more about the Acadian Expulsion than I ever learned anywhere before. I found it riveting and only wish I’d known this much when I visited Nova Scotia 8 years ago. My first day I went to Grand Pre and what a beautiful place it is. It’s unconscionable what the British did, and the toll the Acadians paid as political pawns.
I deeply admire the amount of research the author did and was astonished at how much information he was able to glean. This was a lot of book for less than 200 pages.

[Dean Jobb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tyler LeBlanc immerses readers in the horrific eighteenth-century deportations that scattered his Acadian ancestors and almost destroyed their culture. This deeply researched book is a gripping account of a dark chapter in Canada’s history as well as an uplifting tale of one person's discovery of heritage, of family, and ultimately, of identity.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well done. Love the research he undertook - and the important story he related. Hope he keeps writing on this subject.

[Kristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspired to read this after hours of studying Social Studies with Colby. I learned a lot reading this book.

[Carmelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book as the story told is very similar to that of my ancestors from Isle Madame in Nova Scotia, where my father grew up.

[Pascale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave it 5 stars when it first came out… and the audiobook also deserves 5 stars!

I wish more people took the time to read this book: it is well worth the time and money!

[Paige Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read about it time and time again. The people change, places change, the point in time changes, but its been the reality for many. I just can't imagine functioning while this happened to me and my loved ones. I picture Cody being rounded up, separated from us and then never seeing him again.

No control. No voice. To watch his life not matter.

"The first step of assimilation was usually isolation. Isolation from friends, family, and one's culture as a whole."

Isolation. The truth of that word is in the details which this book lays out clearly.

Lets not even touch on the innocent children, many who have been safe and loved all their lives and are about to be introduced to fear and evil, to confusion. They to are isolated.

When I put myself in the shoes of these Acadians I don't picture my own reaction because honestly... I have no idea what that would be. Surely I would just stop existing.

[Peggy Walt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book about Tyler LeBlanc's family, and his quest to find them. Growing up, he did not know of his Acadian roots, and once he made the connection, he set out to document what happened to his family as a microcosm of the bigger Acadian story. Some of this will be familiar, but what was new to me is the terrible living conditions of the Acadians once they landed in various countries. The contrast between their prosperous lives back in Acadie and their situations as destitute, dependent prisoners is boldly painted in this book, in just over 170 pages. Should be required reading in our Canadian schools, and I'm predicting a book award or two...especially after there is a French translation! Bravo, Tyler LeBlanc! PS next edition - add an author photo please, Goose Lane Editions!

[Jacob Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving testament to the stories of the Acadian people, and the tragedy of La Grande Dérangement (somewhat more prosaically rendered 'the Expulsion' in English). The realities and broken promises given to the Acadian people are clear as day in this brisk and poignant little book.

Highly recommend it, if not for its crisp and affecting prose, than for the clarity with which LeBlanc renders the history of Acadia through the lens of his family.

[Carmen Hartt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Acadian history

[Heather Oland · Rating 4 out of 5]

really interesting book on the expulsion of the Acadian people from what is now Nova Scotia. Very well researched, covers a lot of ground is a short span.

[Suzanne Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book about one branch of the LeBlanc family expelled in 1755 from their homeland of over 125 in Nova Scotia. Not enough has been discussed about this horrific ethnic cleansing of the Acadians and the indigenous population with whom they lived peacefully. Tyler LeBlanc gives us a window into the horrific conditions these people endured following the British expulsion.

[Amie's Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his introduction, author Tyler LeBlanc writes:

"As a longtime fan of reconstructed historical non-fiction and its ability to take readers to the time and place in question and bring history alive, I have tried in these pages to give the [Acadian] Expulsion a similar treatment. This book looks at the event from the point of view of those who experienced it. It is not a grand history of the Acadian experience. I'm not a historian, and I have no thesis to advance. This is a personal book about ten siblings, all ancestors of mine, who found themselves tossed from their quiet pastoral lives into the turbulent world of eighteenth-century geopolitics... The Expulsion of the Acadians from their homeland had a direct effect on over fifteen thousand people, yet we know very few of their personal stories."

As a person born in Ontario, Canada, I am embarrassed to admit I knew almost nothing about the expulsion of the Acadian people from Canada's East Coast during the mid 1700s. This is a reprehensible failing of the Canadian educational curriculum. I remember taking classes in American history, but the history of our own country was skimmed over. And (of course) any shameful or negative history was ignored or "whitewashed."

When I met my husband (an Acadian from Prince Edward Island) and in the years since, I have been fascinated by the plight of the Acadian people as well as their grit and tenacity which has allowed their community to grow and thrive to this day. My husband's last name is Gaudet and what initially drew me to this particular book was the fact that one of the author's ancestors was "Françoise Gaudet" who was born way back in 1623 and was married to "Daniel LeBlanc." Further research on my part will have to take place before I can confirm whether or not this is a common ancestor.

ACADIAN DRIFTWOOD is a remarkable work of creative nonfiction. Author Tyler LeBlanc has researched his genealogy and through extensive investigation into historic documents, he has been able to write a narrative of what real people went through during the time period of the Acadian Expulsion in the 1700s.

I have read several books about the Expulsion and have even visited the Acadian Museum in Miscouche, on Prince Edward Island, and ACADIAN DRIFTWOOD is unique in the very best way.

Most books and historic documents concentrate exclusively on the lives and actions of the people in power and their lives. What has been missing, until now, is an account of the lives of ordinary people and the hardships they endured.

Tyler LeBlanc brings his ancestors to life and allows readers a look into what happened to them and how ordinary people were affected by the decisions made by politicians and military leaders. Most of these decisionmakers were people who were never seen by the Acadians whose peaceful lives were shattered and whose families were scattered over thousands of miles.

"Though this narrative is full of pain and suffering, it is a story of survival." I am in awe of the grit and the tenacity of the Acadian people. It would have been easy to allow themselves to be assimilated into the English culture.  Despite the attempted genocide of their people, the Acadians held fast to their beliefs and their culture and are still practicing those same values today. Their belief in the power of family and faith has created a group of people who are some of the best, most honest, honorable and  hardworking people I have ever met. Although I only married into this culture, I am proud to be a part of the Acadian community.

Whether you already have a firm grasp on the history of the Acadian people, or know absolutely nothing about them, this book will inform and inspire you. By mixing together personal stories with the actions of historic figures, and events, the author has written a compelling narrative that is not to be missed.

I rate ACADIAN DRIFTWOOD by Acadian-Canadian, Tyler LeBlanc as 5 OUT OF 5 STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

For photos, videos and the full review, visit:

http://bit.ly/AcadianDrift

[Nicholas Decarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I rarely acknowledge it, I've lived just over half my life in New Brunswick and in that time I've had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know many Acadians. Despite this, the general narrative I remember learning, either in school or quickly summarized histories by others was that the Acadians were expelled during the Seven Years' war, some came back, others hid, or just moved - without the quick tidbit that today's Cajun's found in the American south were related to the Acadians. A lot of yah-dah-yah-dah history.

I've even lived in the greater Moncton area - a city named after General Monckton who was one of the war criminals who deported the Acadians.

I was not prepared for how cruel the full story was. Whether it was British and American (still loyal to Britain) governors and generals or the Acadian's own government in Versailles - the Acadians just kept getting dealt bad deal after bad deal, if you can even call them that. The author's History through the lens of their family, the LeBlanc, today one of the most common names I've encountered in New Brunswick is fascinating and easily worth a read.

The final, depressing note at the end about the current status of the Acadian community hits home living in the province with the largest portion of Acadians. It dispels a lot of the rhetoric I encounter from Anglos in New Brunswick and elsewhere about the "privileged" status Acadians have for speaking French and having had to know English.

I'm more interested now in reading about Acadian History and culture, especially how Acadians rebuilt their communities and their history going forward after the great upheaval.

[Jan Boomhouwer · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The effects of the Expulsion on Acadian culture are inseparable from its modern identity. The same does not have to be true for future displaced peoples.”

——

In Acadian Driftwood, Tyler LeBlanc discovers his connection to the Acadian expulsion and follows what happens to ten of his ancestors (all siblings) in the chaos of the expulsion.

LeBlanc illustrates the horror and human suffering enacted on thousands of people because of colonial powers, territory disputes, and politics.

I appreciated how easy LeBlanc made this book to read. He provides such amazing context surrounding conflicts, historical figures, and the constant power vacuums in North America.

LeBlanc presents the expulsion and diaspora of Acadians as only one account of imperial abuse, and encourages readers to examine historical and contemporary expulsions and relocations of populations (drawing specific reference to indigenous communities and the Rohingya).

This book was an excellent, concise introduction into the social history of a dark chapter in Canadian history. Definitely recommend.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prior to reading this book, my knowledge of the Acadian expulsion was quite limited, to a few sidebars in Canadian history texts (including university) and a reading of the somewhat well read Pelagie by Antonine Maillet (which was quite rollicking but perhaps didn't quite strike me with the severity and extent of the forced diaspora). LeBlanc's approach is unique and infused with gut-wrenching pathos. You can tell that the author feels this story deep in his own ancestral DNA and it spills out all over the page in a really compelling narrative. As he devotes a chapter to the story of each sibling in an large family disrupted by the expulsion, the reader is pulled in to this narrative and feels both the weight of the injustice and the aching silence of how this story has not been given a larger place in the story of Canada's colonization.

[Jocelyn Covert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and WAY more details than I ever learned in school. We always stopped at the Expulsion; this book details the different journeys that each sibling took - the harrowing ocean crossings, the various disappointing schemes to use the Acadians to populate a new colony, and the many horrible ways to die after being Expelled. I really like that he was sure to include the indigenous populations (eg Mi'kmak) and to continually remind the reader of their equally awful and ongoing mistreatment by settlers and colonizers. He ends with a reminder that similar expulsions still happen today, like the Rohingya people of Myanmar.

[Suzanne Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kudos to Tyler LeBlanc for penning this much-needed, well researched book about the ethnic cleansing of the Acadians. More needs to be written about this mostly unknown expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia in 1755. There are other well researched books about Grand Dérangement (The Expulsion), but they are mostly academic in nature. Tyler gave us a window into the everyday lives of the deportees and the horrific conditions they endured until they finally settled in Louisiana and back in Canada through the eyes of his ancestors. As he states, more discussion is needed about this black mark on Great Britain's colonial record. I highly recommend for lovers of history.

[dobbs the dog · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really interesting look at the expulsion of the Acadians. Having taken several History of Atlantic Canada courses, there is always talk about the Acadians, but this book, in following the different members of the LeBlanc family, have a much more personalized story and actually kept my interest. I truly had no idea about the majority of what the Acadians went through after being kicked out of Nova Scotia.

I also liked how colonialism was included in talking about the Acadians and the British and how the Acadians were also victims of colonisation and imperialism.

Very good read, definitely recommend if you’re wanting a really solid history of the Acadians.

[litost · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t believe how my public school education white-washed the history of the Acadians. It took LeBlanc to tell me the real story of the expulsion: how they were not simply moved from Acadia to Louisiana, but sent to many places: Boston, Philadelphia, Virginia, England, France; none of whom wanted them. LeBlanc writes of the horrible conditions below decks on the prisoner ships, and about how so many died from diseases, shipwreck, etc. He also writes of the poverty and alienation they suffered in the places they landed. Well researched and written in a straight-forward manner.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ☆ Rounded Up

I listened on audiobook, and I bet this one would have been better if I'd read it. There are a lot of people to keep track of in this one, and a lot of them have the same/similar names. Also, the audiobook narrator spoke Acadian names and places with a very heavy accent, but read the rest of the book in English with no accent. My Anglophone brain found the shifts distracting and hard to understand. While I appreciated the proper pronunciation of the Acadian names and places, I would have been better off reading them with my horrible French out of a book.

[Kathleen]

6 hours
On my phone I listened to Acadian Driftwood: One Family and the Great Expulsion written by Tyler LeBlanc and read by Pierre Simpson.

Piecing together his family history through archival documents, Tyler LeBlanc tells the story of his ancestor Joseph LeBlanc and the LeBlanc family during the great expulsion. A unique biographical approach to the history of the Expulsion, Acadian Driftwood is a vivid insight into one family’s experience of this traumatic event.

[Mica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains a lot of good, well-researched information about the Acadian Expulsion. Though I found at times it was difficult to follow LeBlanc’s ancestral narrative, I found the book very educational and overall well written. It has inspired me to continue expanding on my knowledge of the Expulsion, a topic I should have begun researching long ago.

[Amanda Borys · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. The way it followed one family through their personal exodus really made it come home to me the underlying cruelty and heartlessness of the British leaders. Especially as it was borne out of nothing more than British bigotries and callousness. It made me realize I need to do a lot more reading on the Acadian Expulsion to understand what really happened.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book offers a well-researched history of the expulsion of Acadians from Canada, with many references provided. Since we don't have the actual words of the family that the story centers, though, I didn't feel connected to them. So the tone of the book felt a bit dry to me (like driftwood itself, perhaps?)

[Jakob Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe I've been living under a rock, but until I moved to Nova Scotia I had never heard of the Acadian Expulsion! This was such an insightful way to learn about these peoples histories while following the LeBlanc family's stories throughout the mid-to-late 18th century. Highly recommend this creative non-fiction for anyone that likes to picture the book as a film in their mind, like myself!

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tyler LeBlanc's research into what really happened to his Acadian ancestors during and after the Great Expulsions of 1755 and 1758 is a must-read for anyone who wants to gain a deeper understanding of Acadian and Canadian history. This isn't the colonial whitewashing we learned in elementary school.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A family history hidden in plain sight. Tyler Leblanc writes of his early ancestors -- shared by many Acadian descendants -- and of what happened to them after the Grand Derangement (an ethnic cleansing of French Neutrals from Nova Scotia in 1755). Fascinating to follow him as he uncovers his heritage, which was unknown to him until an Acadian historian suggested he look into the Leblanc family.

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having moved into an Acadian area, I knew little about the history of the people. This book was very informative - I learned a lot.

I do wish a bit more pre exile was covered or a connection to the characters could have been formed as in a more traditional story.

Thank you for taking the time to write this book. It is a worthwhile read / listen!

[Tania P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Through the fictional retelling (backed up by extensive research) of the expulsion of one Acadian family (parents and twelve children) from Acadie, the author paints a vivid picture of the upheaval and impact that the deportations had upon the Acadian people.