Historical novelist Elinor Florence will present a glimpse into the past Saturday, June 9, at the North Battleford Public Library.
The granddaughter of homesteaders, Elinor grew up on a farm east of Brada, and attended high school in Battleford. She began her long journalism career at the Battlefords Advertiser-Post, went on to The Western Producerin Saskatoon and worked for newspapers in all four Western provinces. She continues to write a monthly column for Gray Matters, the Saskatchewan Seniors Mechanism publication based in Regina.
Her love of Western Canadian history is evident in both her new novel Wildwood, and her wartime novel Bird’s Eye View. Using vintage photographs, Elinor will present a slide show illustrating the research behind her novels and tell some interesting anecdotes about our own past.
Bird’s Eye View, which was published in 2014 and later became a Toronto Star bestseller, tells the story of a farm girl from the fictional town of Touchwood, Sask. – loosely based on the Battlefords — who joins the air force and serves overseas as an aerial photographic interpreter.
Her new novel Wildwood features a single mother from the big city of Phoenix, Ariz., who inherits an abandoned farm in the remote northern backwoods, on condition that she lives there, off the grid, for one year.
Molly and her daughter Bridget move to the farm called Wildwood in northern Alberta, where Molly teaches herself basic pioneer skills – cooking on a wood stove using the Five Roses cookbook, chopping firewood and melting snow to do her laundry.
In the old farmhouse, Molly finds a journal written in 1924 by her courageous great-aunt, the land’s original homesteader, and reading about the early days inspires Molly to persevere against all the odds.
According to a recent review in U.S. Publishers Weekly: “Molly’s experience of her great-aunt’s way of life is so vividly described readers will appreciate the strength and courage of past generations.”
Florence’s presentation will begin at 2 p.m. at the North Battleford Public Library, located at 1392 - 101st St. Admission is free, and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
Copies of both books will be available for sale, or you may bring your own copy and have it signed. Both books can also be purchased online in digital format. Bird’s Eye View is available locally at the Western Development Museum and the Fred Light Museum in Battleford.
The author will visit the Battlefords as part of a book tour that will also take her to McNally Robinson Booksellers in Saskatoon June 7 and the Melfort Public Library June 13.
Florence now makes her home in Invermere, B.C. although she visits the area often since her brother Rob and his wife Wendy Florence still operate the family farm.
For information about the author, visit www.elinorflorence.com. For information about the event, call the library at 306-445-3206.
