This Cambridge, Mass author provides an historical tale of misadventures, disloyalties, and superstitious beliefs in 1542-45 France, New France and in between.
When the aristocratic wealthy Marguerite de la Roque is orphaned, her guardian forces her to accompany him on a ship to Canada, specifically to an island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. There, because she has disobeyed his orders, he abandons her, with her husband, her nurse and her infant son on the small deserted island. All but Marguerite die, leaving her to fend for herself, for two years, before being rescued by a Basque fleet and returned to France. There, still denied her heritage, she eventually resorts to establishing and teaching at an all-girls school.
Throughout, all the devout characters pray incessantly, apparently never questioning why their pleas are never answered.
This story is based loosely on true events, but the embellishment is so extreme that it could have been shortened by at least 1/3 without loosing its message.
3/5
Thanks, Goodreads.
