THE SEAMSTRESS OF ACADIE - Laura Frantz - One Free Book
Bio:Laura Frantz is a Christy Award winner and the ECPAbestselling author of fifteen novels, including The Rose and theThistle, The Frontiersman’s Daughter, Courting MorrowLittle, The Lacemaker, and A Heart Adrift.She is the proud mom of an American soldier and a career firefighter. Thoughshe will always call Kentucky home, Laura lives with her husband in WashingtonState.She is well known for her meticulously researched novels. In hernewest work, The Seamstress of Acadie, Frantz spins a grippingtale of an Acadian woman caught between the warring French and English during . Filled with history, intrigue,and romance, The Seamstress of Acadie is sure to win the heartsof historical romance fans.
About thestory: Gifted seamstress Sylvie Galant and herAcadian family desire to live peacefully and remain neutral in the upcoming warbetween the French and the English. But the proximity of their land on ’s rugged shores makes them an easy target.While tensions escalate, Sylvie encounters Major William Blackburn. Although heis a British Army Ranger, Blackburn warns her that the British are poised to invade. But thewarning cannot counteract the plans or stop the tide ofEnglish soldiers.
William Blackburn has seen firsthand theatrocities that the British have done to the Acadian families and their villages.Rather than participate in the heinous expulsion, Will resigns his commissionbefore a charge of treason is brought against him.
When Sylvie is forciblyremoved from her homeland, she finds herself on a ramshackle ship headed toVirginia, where she crosses paths once again with Will. Together they must workthrough the complex tangle of their shared, shattered past to navigate thepresent and forge an enduring future.
Welcomeback to my blog, Laura. What was the inspiration for The Seamstress of Acadie? I’vealways been fascinated by Acadian history, which is the most heartbreaking I’veever researched. I was disappointed to find few novels that deal with Acadie,which, aside from Longfellow’s poem Evangeline, seems to have beenburied since the eighteenth-century expulsion.
Yourtwo protagonists, Sylvie Galant and William Blackburn, are on opposing sides inLe Grand Dérangement of1755. How did they first meet? Sylvie and William have arather charming first meeting by a well in Acadie that is based on a bit ofsubterfuge and secrecy. Their attraction is instant and mutual, as it so often isinexplicably even in real life.
Sylvie and William later find themselves on shipsheaded to Virginia. Can you provide a brief summary of the events leading up totheir departure from Acadie? Acadie, present-day NovaScotia, had long been a battleground between the French and English since itsfounding in 1604. The conflict worsened in the eighteenth century as each nationfought over contested territory. In 1755, the Acadians were deprived of theirweapons, detained as prisoners, and then forced onto ships to destinationsunknown. In the novel, William leaves Acadie first with his Rangers on a sloopin late summer 1755 before the deportation of the Acadians begins. Sylviefollows on a ramshackle transport ship in early fall.
What led to William’s decision to resign from theBritish army? William has a profound change of heart and purpose. Aspiritual awakening as a prisoner of war among the French led to an about-facein terms of his military career, culminating in his refusal to take part in theAcadians’ deportation.
Prior to the British invasion of Acadie, SylvieGalant was a seamstress. How did her profession play a part in your story? Eachof us is gifted with the ability to do certain things well. Sylvie is nodifferent. Since childhood, she has plied her needle in a way that causes otherpeople to take notice. To her, it is just routine until she begins to see herskill as a means to navigate her new, unwanted life in a hostile land. Personally,I grew up with a grandmother who was an accomplished seamstress and sewed myclothes, even historical garments. I don’t sew myself but am in awe of thosewho do!Canyou please describe the setting for your novel and why this is important in theoverall plot? If you visit Nova Scotia, you soon realize why the Britishfought hard to win it and why the Acadians took strong measures to keep it.Epic in scope and beauty with forests and fields and mountains, coastlines andislands, it’s truly a one-of-a-kind place and makes the ideal novel setting. Ihope readers experience some of that beauty within the novel’s pages.
Whatare some of the themes found within The Seamstress of Acadie? Love,loss, trust, new beginnings. Life is one of continual change. How we navigatethose changes is a constant challenge both in fiction and in real life.
Whatdo you hope readers will experience when reading your novel? Thatbeauty can be seen amid the heartbreaking history and cause us to look at theheartaches and hurdles we face today in a different light.
Where can readers purchase a copy of TheSeamstress of Acadie? The book is available inpaperback and e-reader on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book online retailers.If your local bookstore doesn’t have it, you can ask them to order it for you.
How can readers connect with you? I’mactive on these social media channels and regularly post on my website’sjournal page:
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/laurafrantzauthor/
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/LauraFrantzAuthor/
Pinterest:https://www.pinterest.com/laurafrantz/
Thank you forsharing The Seamstress of Acadie with my blog readers and me. We love to learn about historicalevents.
Readers, here’s alink to the book.
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