We have now met online for one full year! We should be proud of our perseverance! Present were Betty, Janet, Linda, Marg, Michèle and Shirley. The book discussed tonight was Janet's choice, Wild Rose by Sharon Butala. Ms. Butala joined our meeting at 8:00 pm and we had a very good discussion with her.
Janet chose this book because her husband's grandparents were homesteaders in Saskatchewan that had come from France. Two other of our members came from the prairie provinces and had families that struggled to make a life homesteading in Western Canada.
Sharon Butala is a Canadian author from Saskatchewan. She taught at the University of Saskatchewan, College of Education before becoming a full time writer. She has written 22 books, the 22nd coming out on September 13, 2021, called The Strange Visible Air - Essays on Aging. She is not only a prolific writer; she has written fiction - novels, short stories and essays - as well as non-fiction. She has three Honorary Doctors of Law from the University of Regina, Saskatchewan and Alberta. She is an Officer of the Order of Canada and has received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit. She has received literary awards, the Marian Engel Award amongst them. Ms. Butala's grandparents came from Québec and homesteaded in Saskatchewan and is most probably why there is the connection with Québec in this story.
This is a historical novel that we all enjoyed and found very interesting. It is very well written; the descriptions of the prairie landscapes allowed us to visualize the beauty. "Nothing, nothing to be seen for miles in any direction: only grass and more grass, hills and more low softly sloping hills, repeating themselves until they reach the far, light-filled wavering horizon." (pg 134). Sophie, the main character, is a young woman who has come to Saskatchewan from Québec with her husband to homestead. She is abandoned by her husband and the land they had started to develop is sold from under her. Alone with a young child and very little to survive, she is determined to make a life for herself and her son and despite setbacks she survives and prospers.
We were all impressed by Sophie's determination and guts to succeed in a land that was essentially dominated by men. Members felt that the discussion of Sophie's life as a young child in rural Québec allowed us to view the grip the Catholic Church had on the population in Québec in the 1880's. Sophie wanted to escape the restrictions imposed on women in Québec society dominated by the Catholic Church. Sophie's life and struggles showed us how difficult life was for women alone in our developing country. The story Wild Rose reminded us of the courage and determination women had to have to carve out a life for themselves and their families in the Canadian prairies of the late 19th and early 20th century.
Thank you Janet for an excellent book choice and thank you Sharon Butala for the wonderful conversation we shared with you.
