The Broken Heart of Winter
The Broken Heart of Winter
Cassandra Schiemann
, finn mulryan
, Marilyn Stanley
, Crystal Inwood
, Elisha Lazarski
, Barry Kazimer
, Jude Castillo
, Jill Handrigan
, Sarah Schwartz
, Noelle Walsh
, Catherine Booker
, Chantal Comeau
, Marissa Yip-Young
, Pamela Roberts Griffith
, Margo Beredjiklian
, Linda Leitch
, Joshua Lewis
, Chris Carvalho
, Trish Bowering
, iwona hukiewicz
, leanne desilvio
, sara desilvio
, Andrea Gillespie
, Penny Gilman
, Shannon Holmes
, Tyler Webb
, Benita Hartwell
, Janice Cournoyer
, Pat Johnston
, Charles Leblanc
, Deb Philippon
, Anne Range
, Cynthia Heinrichs
, Huguette Lemieux
, Kathryn Galan
, Rhona Brinkman
, Jane Graham
, Margaret McKay
, Karen Kendrick
, Mary Therrien
, Kat Sommer-Derksen
, Sandra Storey
, Paula Adam
, Robert Hykawy
, Ellen Clarke
, Vicki Bedford
, Karen Nordrum
, Becky Bridger
, Sandra Furlotte
, Randi Ann Doll
, Denise Duvall
, Heather O'Connor
, Lorraine Lambie
, Paula Ritchie
, Marilyn Kaluza Massoud
, Deana Bueley
, Maria Mclean
, Rodney Cross
, Rosa Cross
, Ken Gilmour
, Kim Cappellina
, Debbie Youngman
, Margaret Palmer
, Lisa Mallia
, Filomena Falocco
, Melissa Poremba
, Kim Fenton
, Natasa Ilic
, Elaine Baptie
, Sara Conway
, jane luce
, Thelma Ball
, Patricia McKeown
, Dani Kat
, P. Thompson
, PATRICIA SOPEL
, Irene Anderson
, Agnes Marshall
, Debbie Rodgers
, Janet Meisner
, Dorothy Wong
, Debra Fisher
, Diane O'Flaherty
, Sharon Urdahl
, Deborah Kennedy
, Andrea Pole
, Beth Dekoker
, Madison Hendricks
, Sandra Perry
, Mary-Esther Lee
, Shayla Bradley
, Val Ross
, Annika Fotheringham
, Jennifer Beyak
, Hoda Montazeri
, Shawna Moodie
, Kenzie Woitowicz
, Patricia Johnson
, Heather Norris
, Laney Gomes
, Grace Novack
, Dorothy Wong
, Melissa Narine-Singh
, LJ Law
, Lynn Andrews
, Heather Rose
, Donna Gamache
, Linda MacIntyre
, Rachel Edmonds
, diana kirkwood
, PETER TASSIOPOULOS
, Susan Toy
, Kevin Smith
, Karen Reid
, Joanne Epp
, Darlene Foster
, Lynn Bechtel
editor@49thShelf.com
Lise, Appoline and Anne are related, though they live on opposite coasts at different moments of time, with the vast geography of Canada and decades of change in between. The three women are linked by generations of hardship, displacement, and an eighteenth-century French musket that has been passed down through the LeBlanc family since the time of the Acadian expulsion. In contemporary Victoria, BC, Lise’s estranged son, Daniel, reappears in Nova Scotia just when she’s making significant changes in her life, including a nasty divorce from Daniel’s father. Upon learning that her son is living with a distant relative Lise barely knows and causing enough trouble to draw the attention of the authorities, Lise goes to him and begins to unravel a family history that brings about unintended consequences. In 1832, on Isle Madame, Nova Scotia, eighteen-year-old Appoline is left by her older brother to overwinter in an isolated cove, where she’s in charge of five members of her family ranging in age from ten to ninety-nine. Grand-mère, the family matriarch, refuses to leave despite the wishes of her family. Tension grows between Appoline and her younger sister, coming to a head when the sister brings home a young ‘Jersey man.’ Finally, Grand-mère tells her own story of the Acadian expulsion of 1755. Her memories follow a group of Acadian fugitives on their flight into what is now northern New Brunswick, seeking refuge at the infamous Camp D’Espérance. In each successive generation, the imprint of the expulsion perpetuates further suffering, severs a connection to the past and contributes to the gradual erosion of cultural identity. Nevertheless, these three women are resilient in the face of great obstacles. The Broken Heart of Winter speaks to the capacity of the human spirit to love, to adapt, and to carry on.
