(All images and reviews uploaded from Red Cedar Book Award site)
Sophie Loveridge’s father decides that the only way to become a great poet is by moving his family to Canada from the stately manor in England where they live off relatives and are taken care of by servants. So in 1721 the ill-equipped Loveridge family embarks on a rough voyage on a vessel crossing the Atlantic to Newfoundland, fishing for cod. On board, Sophie is left on her own while her parents withdraw to their cabin. Going about the ship, Sophie starts to make friends with the workers and help them with their jobs. She even joins in cleaning and salting the fish. Before the ship returns to England, the crew builds a few cabins for the Loveridges, a helper named Lige and two poor Irish families who have come to Canada to homestead. After this the ship leaves before the sea freezes over. In this harsh landscape there is no settlement, no food unless you catch it yourself, and no servants. Sophie’s parents continue to ignore the realities of their new life, and when Old Lige dies it is up to Sophie to keep the family alive through an unbelievably harsh winter. Sophie’s diary records this frightening, difficult time.
No comments:
Post a Comment