"Eve, how do your paintings come to you?""Well, in the past I just found a subject I admired or found beautiful, but lately, since the end of the summer, they have been coming to me in dreams." (p. 95)
Title: My Evangeline by Heidi Radford Legg
Paperback: 232 pages
Publisher: www.heidilegg.com (October 25, 2011)
Book description:
When small town Acadian girl, Evangeline, 18, is faced with choosing between living out her late-mother's unfinished dreams at her father’s insistence or following her own charted path that includes her summer boyfriend, the American Max, the magnitude of her decision weighs heavily. When she folds to her father’s pressure and moves to Montreal, she not only finds herself embroiled in political protests and losing Max, but begins to unravel a family secret her father was desperate to hide. My Evangeline, set in retro 1995, tells the story of a willful heroine, who with all her irreverent and rebellious undertones, is stopped in her tracks by duty. With a nod to Longfellow’s epic Evangeline who was faced with the same choice, we meet a contemporary heroine who begins her journey naïve and dutiful. And like the fabled heroine of old, she finds her inner strength once she realizes the casualty of her choices. Elements of magic realism permeate the story as she unravels the secret. She meets an owl, a panther and a raven that challenge her ability to reason as she sets out in search of her true spirit. (Amazon)
Comments: A work of literary fiction with an historical background, the story of Evangeline is reminiscent of the poet Longfellow's Evangeline, whose character inspired the author's novel. The book is a contemporary work about choices and it is also a love story with magical elements. The setting is the town of Shediac, New Brunswick, Canada and the Montreal art world around 1995.
Comments: A work of literary fiction with an historical background, the story of Evangeline is reminiscent of the poet Longfellow's Evangeline, whose character inspired the author's novel. The book is a contemporary work about choices and it is also a love story with magical elements. The setting is the town of Shediac, New Brunswick, Canada and the Montreal art world around 1995.
About the Author:
HEIDI RADFORD LEGG has written six screenplays and piles of essays and poems. Born in New Brunswick, Canada, she has a graduate degree in journalism from Concordia University in Montreal and now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her family, a short walk from Longfellow's home. This is her first novel. http://www.heidilegg.com/
I received a complimentary review copy of this book.
© Harvee Lau of Book Dilettante. Please do not reprint without permission
I received a complimentary review copy of this book.
© Harvee Lau of Book Dilettante. Please do not reprint without permission
I have never read the original Evangeline, but this one sounds rather different, and interesting. I like the fact that it's sort of a homage to Longfellow, and that the story sounds rather introspective and gripping. Great review! It sounds like this one would be worth investigating!
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