Roughing It In The Bush

Roughing It in the Bush by Susanna Moodie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible spoilers ***

I thought this book was interesting and informative. Unlike some reviewers, I didn't find the narrator overly complaining. True, she encountered lots of problems but i thought her grievances were valid. After all, this book is set in the 1830s and life in Canada, particularly in backwoods Canada, was extremely difficult. It didn't help the family encountered a number of people who where highly exploitative and being newcomers, didn't have the experience to detect them before it was too late; nevertheless, no matter how bad things got, they dug in their toes and persevered. They had no choice. In those day it was either make the best of bad situations or die.

This is a very long book and possibly not for the faint of heart. Depending on how much time you have to dedicate to reading it can easily take three weeks or more to get through.

I was particularly interested in the last couple of chapters. Though written in the latter half of the nineteenth century, much of what the author said parallels goings on today. If your a history buff and want a good day-to-day look at pioneering in Canada, this is a good book to read. Frankly I would recommend this over much of what passes for Canadian history in schools today.



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