I’m a regular viewer of the YouTube channel Townsends, which is dedicated to Colonial America. It’s a very informative channel filled with stories, tutorials, and reenactments of life in the eighteenth century. They also have book recommendations, and when I saw The Backwoods of Canada by Catharine Parr Traill, I made an immediate purchase to read about the life of a woman and her husband emigrating to Canada. So today, here is my review of her true-life account.
Title: The Backwoods of Canada
Series: N/A
Author: Catharine Parr Traill
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Length: 372 pages
Publication Date: January 16, 2018
Blurb: The Backwoods of Canada is a collection of personal letters written by Catharine Parr Traill and published in 1836. The book was intended to equip other women immigrants with a realistic view of what life was like on the wilderness frontier of Canada as well as insight into the skills and strength needed to survive. Following her marriage to Thomas Traill, a retired British Lieutenant who served in the Napoleonic Wars, the couple emigrated to Canada and settled in the backwoods near what is now Peterborough, Ontario. Catharine was a prolific writer, having authored her first book at the age of 16. Following the publication of this book, she went on to produce Canadian Crusoes (1851) and The Female Emigrant’s Guide (1854) with which she shared more antidotes of daily frontier life as well as a more thorough collection of requisite domestic skills. Traill was also an avid naturalist, producing multiple volumes on Canadian flora and fauna. This book offers an excellent glimpse into frontier life as it had existed relatively unchanged for many decades. It is especially unique in that it provides that glimpse from a female perspective.
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I love reading about life in the past, especially eighteenth-century Canada. So when a YouTube channel (Townsends) I enjoy recommended this book, I bought it. The author is emigrating to Canada, and she shares her journey to Peterborough. At the time, this city was considered the backwoods. Imagine where I live. They must’ve called it “Don’t go there, it’s too untamed and wild!” LOL.
Anyhoo, the author is a gifted writer with a love for description. She gave me a complete overview of her travels and what she saw and experienced. A rough going? Very much. She spares no expense for the hardships she faces during her journey to a place she’ll forever call home. I had the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life, and even got a peek into the lives of my own people she spied along the way. The letters she writes to her mother are heartfelt at times, poignant, and practical, and also convey her exhaustion, but also her enthusiasm.
Did I get a feel for the true nature of life during this time period? Very much so. Nature fascinates the author and she describes every plant and water passage with the detail of one of my fave Indigenous authors Richard Wagamese. Mind you, at times I did feel bogged down by the many descriptions. Yes, they are pretty, but I found myself thinking, “Let’s get on with this tale.”
Letters are my favourite to read because they give me a feel for the language and thoughts during this time.
Still, even with too much plant description, it’s great to read a book from a woman’s POV. If you enjoy historical fiction and non-fiction about life during the eighteenth century, do yourself a favour and purchase a copy. It’s a real-life account.
Maggie Blackbird 