I received a free copy of Duty to the Crown for my honest review.
About the Book:
Set amid the promise and challenge of the first Canadian colonies, Aimie K. Runyan’s vividly rendered novel provides a fascinating portrait of the women who would become the founding mothers of New France.
In 1677, an invisible wall separates settlers in New France from their Huron neighbors. Yet whether in the fledgling city of Quebec or within one of the native tribes, every woman’s fate depends on the man she chooses–or is obligated–to marry.
Although Claudine Deschamps and Gabrielle Giroux both live within the settlement, their prospects are very different. French-born Claudine has followed her older sister across the Atlantic hoping to attract a wealthy husband through her beauty and connections. Gabrielle, orphan daughter of the town drunkard, is forced into a loveless union by a cruel law that requires her to marry by her sixteenth birthday. And Manon Lefebvre, born in the Huron village and later adopted by settlers, has faced the prejudices of both societies and is convinced she can no longer be accepted in either. Drawn into unexpected friendship through their loves, losses, and dreams of home and family, all three women will have to call on their bravery and resilience to succeed in this new world…
About the Author:
Aimie K. Runyan, member of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Historical Novel Society, and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, has been an avid student of French and Francophone Studies for more than fifteen years. While working on her Master’s thesis on the brave women who helped found French Canada, she was fortunate enough to win a generous grant from the Quebec government to study onsite for three months which enabled the detailed research necessary for her work. She lives in Colorado with her husband and two wonderful children.
My Opinion:
I loved the first book in this series, Promised to the Crown and was so very thrilled to be asked to read this second book. I picked it up and it didn’t take long to find myself back in New France immersed in the lives of the second generation of women to experience the highs and lows of life in the colony.
Manon, the adopted daughter of Nicole Lefebvre is back in town with her adopted brother after being cast out by her tribe. Life has not been easy for her from the start. Not accepted by the French or the Huron she lives on a tightrope just trying to survive. Nicole loves her but most of the rest of the people in town see her as nothing more than a savage. Even Nicole’s sisters from France – until her skills show them that she is not something to be feared but rather someone to be respected.
Gabrielle has been adopted and finally knows the love of family after being abused by her alcoholic father. She and her brother live with Elisabeth and Gilbert and work in their very successful bakery but she has talents that lie in other areas. Her skill with a needle is gaining her some notice and she longs to just sew but she owes her adoptive parents for saving her and her brother from the hell of their former life. And in the colony everyone works and works hard. There is also a law hanging over her head – she must marry by the age of 16 and her prospects for a husband are not good because of the scandal of her father being the town drunkard.
Claudine left France with the rest of her family to join her sister thanks to the generosity of Nicole’s husband. She wants to find a husband and prospects were limited in the home country due to their circumstances. Hopefully now things will change.
These three women who are so different become so important to each other and their lives are bound together through love and hardship and friendship.
I loved this second book as much as I did the first. The writing just pulls you into the world created by Ms. Runyan. I’ve read other reviews about whether there is truth in this fiction but to me the book is more about the relationships than the history. I can admit to knowing absolutely nothing about Canada’s history. I probably should know more than I do but I really am more of a student of European history than anything else. I just know that once I started this book I really didn’t want to stop reading and I am hoping for further volumes but am not sure there will be more. I would love to continue on in New France. Ms. Runyan has opened up a whole new world for me to want to explore.
Rating:
5
You can read my review of Promised to the Crown
You can purchase Promised to the Crown
