-- A historical novel that realistically depicts life in
17th-century Quebec from the point of view of a French teenager
The year is 1672. Eighteen-year-old Jeanne Chatel, the heroine
of the story, has just been chosen as a "king's daughter", one of
the hundreds of young women sent to the wilderness of North America
by the French government to become the brides of farmers, soldiers,
and trappers.
Orphaned at age ten, Jeanne has been raised in a convent. But
with her independent spirit, she doesn't hesitate when she's given
the chance to go to New France, as Quebec was then known. Her vivid
imagination conjures up a brilliant new life full of romance and
adventure.
Upon arrival in New France, however, Jeanne discovers that she
must put aside her romantic dreams. Her husband is not a dashing
young military officer, but a proud, silent trapper who lives with
his two small children in a remote cabin -- a man whose beloved
first wife was killed by the Iroquois. Jeanne must draw on all her
courage and imagination to adjust to this backwoods life and
respond to the