A smile unfurled on Catherine’s face as she saw a father pass by with his young daughter riding his shoulders, his son skipping at his side, holding his mother’s hand. It brought to mind another father, far away from here, in a colony called Massachusetts. When she thought of Samuel, which wasn’t often these days, this was how she saw him in her mind, in the context of his family. Lydia, Joel, Molly. At last, he was where he belonged.
And so was she.
Author’s Note
Before I began researching for this book, my knowledge of the French and Indian War was limited to George Washington’s role in it and legends made famous by the classic novel and movie The Last of the Mohicans. But the French and Indian War, as we call it in the United States, was part of a much larger conflict called the Seven Years’ War, which involved the Americas, Europe, Africa, and India. For this reason, some historians call it the first world war.
Between Two Shores centers on just one slice of the action, but an extremely pivotal one. Most of the characters are purely fictional, but they are all inspired by the experiences of real people, from the Kahnawake Mohawk to the British captives living in New France to the Canadian militiamen and French soldiers and sailors. The heroine, Catherine Duval, took shape in my mind when I learned that women, from both Montreal and Kahnawake, were involved in the international fur trade between New France and Albany, New York. They were strong, intelligent, and remarkably independent.
Samuel Crane and Thankful Winslet were both inspired by true stories of British colonists captured by Abenaki and Mohawk warriors and ransomed by French colonists. For further reading on this subject, see The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story from Early America by John Demos and Captive Histories: English, French, and Native Narratives of the 1704 Deerfield Raid, edited by Evan Haefeli and Kevin Sweeney. For more about the practice of using captured British or American soldiers to meet the labor shortage in Canada, see Hodges’ Scout: A Lost Patrol of the French and Indian War by Len Travers.
Supplying the French and Canadian army with food truly was a struggle of epic proportions. Governor-General Vaudreuil spoke for New France when he said, “Of all our enemies, famine is the most fearsome.” Several details of the wheat harvest on the Montreal Plain in August 1759 as I presented them in this novel come straight from history:
Women, children, and old men were called into service to harvest and send the wheat to Quebec.
Several bateaux loaded with wheat were damaged when they ran aground trying to escape Holmes’ squadrons and needed to be repaired at Cap-Rouge.
The French did notify their lookouts that a convoy of bateaux would carry the wheat to Quebec by river the night of September 12, 1759. The lookouts were ordered not to challenge them.
The order for the wheat convoy that was to take place September 12 was canceled, but no one informed the lookouts. Historians haven’t discovered why the convoy was canceled or postponed.
A French deserter was the one who informed the British about the wheat convoy and that the lookouts were to let them pass.
Joseph-Michel Cadet, the Quebec butcher who rose to become the purveyor general for New France, was still trying to get wheat into the city while Quebec was formally surrendering.
After Quebec surrendered in September 1759, Montreal capitulated one year later, ending hostilities in North America. But it wasn’t until 1763 that the Treaty of Paris was signed, officially concluding the Seven Years’ War.
For a fascinating study of the battle for Quebec, I heartily recommend Northern Armageddon: The Battle of the Plains of Abraham and the Making of the American Revolution by D. Peter MacLeod. In this volume, I learned not just about the major players like Amherst, Montcalm, and Wolfe, but also of the more than five hundred women who accompanied Wolfe’s army to Quebec. One of them was thirty-six-year-old Eleanor Job, wife of a Royal Artillery gunner. She served as head nurse of the British field hospital, nursed on the battlefield, and embalmed General Wolfe’s body. I’m also indebted to MacLeod for his book entitled The Canadian Iroquois and the Seven Years’ War, which provided much-needed context for the role of the Kahnawake Mohawk, among other native nations.
The raid on Odanak headed by Robert Rogers and his rangers was a historical event, as well. The subject is addressed in context and detail in White Devil: A True Story of War, Savagery, and Vengeance in Colonial America by Stephen Brumwell.
In Between Two Shores, Joseph Many Feathers expresses doubt about the Mohawk alliance with the French for reasons stemming from actual historical events. In the summer of 1760, less than a year after the fall of Quebec, the Kahnawake Mohawk decided it was time to end their French alliance. Viewing themselves as free agents, they helped the British navigate the Lachine Rapids on their way to seize Montreal in what proved to be a quick and relatively bloodless campaign.
While this novel is full of history, I hope it also brings to mind how God views you. He loves you without you earning that love. You were lost, captive to sin, and He ransomed you with Jesus. You are ransomed, redeemed, set free, and loved. You belong.
Acknowledgments
This book was made stronger because of the help of the following people:
Ann-Margret Hovsepian, my dear friend and fellow author who lives in Montreal and hosted me for a weekend of on-site research, which took us from Kahnawake to Montreal’s stunning museums and north to Quebec City. Her help continued when I had follow-up questions for her about the weather, nature, and geography in and surrounding Montreal. (If you get a chance to visit the city, don’t miss museums Pointe-à-Callière and Château Ramezay!)
The staff at Kanien’kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language and Cultural Center in Kahnawake, Mohawk Nation Territory. The reading room offered a goldmine of resources, and Teiowí:sonte Thomas Deer kept up a robust correspondence with me well after my trip ended as I fact-checked details and cultural nuances.
Katia Garon, our tour guide in Quebec City, who gamely answered all my obscure questions.
Author Lori Benton, whose award-winning novels of frontier America have included the Mohawk culture with respect and sensitivity. Lori read over my work in its less-than-polished state, keeping an eye out for any faux pas I might have made.
A multitude of medical and health professionals who answered questions related to physical injury, including Scott Lockard, Linda Attaway, Elaine Cooper, Anne Reed Love, Doug and Caroline Keiser, and countless friends who chimed in with ideas and personal experiences. Special thanks to Jennifer Major, my brother Jason Falck, and Dr. Rob Keyes.
Everlasting thanks to Matthew Miller, our church’s missionary to Siberia, who was home on furlough during the writing of this novel. Sadly, he broke his rib while home. Amazingly, he answered all my questions about what exactly that felt like and how the recovery process went so I could model Catherine’s experience on his. When I told Matt I wanted to know if a person could paddle a canoe three weeks after breaking a rib, he decided to try. With permission from his doctor, three weeks exactly after his injury, he loaded and unloaded a kayak himself and paddled it alone so he could tell me how it went. I promise I didn’t force him to. Yes, he was sore afterward, but he did it. Now that’s research!
I am also incredibly grateful for my agent, Tim Beals of Credo Communications, and for my editors, Dave Long and Jessica Barnes, for believing in this story and helping me shape it into something worth printing.
Many people have prayed for me during the creation of this book, and I’m thankful for each one. Special thanks to Susie Finkbeiner, whose gift of encouragement knows no bounds.
I’m blessed by my parents, Peter and Pixie Falck, for watching the kids and sometimes giving my family food; my husband, Rob, for supporting me and my work even when that means cereal for dinner; and my children, Elsa and Ethan, who have become quite encouraging little people. It can be challenging having a writer in the family. You all handle it with grace and good humor, and I am so grateful for that.
Thank you to The P
ie Lady of Gladbrook, Iowa, for baking and selling delicious pies suitable for every stage of the writing process, and thanks to Tea Cellar in Cedar Falls for supplying the best teas ever and a lovely place to write and edit.
Most importantly, thank you, Lord, for being a ransom, for redeeming Your children and calling us Your own.
Discussion Questions
In the prologue, Catherine makes a choice to live with her father, and that choice was interpreted by her sister as a personal rejection. Can you think of a time when you were forced to choose between two valuable things? What was the result?
For years, Catherine tries to earn her father’s love by supplying the practical help he needs. How have you noticed people trying to win approval in your own family or community?
When Catherine was a pupil at Madame Bonneville’s School for Young Ladies, the ladies in charge tried to scrub and train the “savage” out of her. Have you ever felt that you had to deny who you are, or part of who you are, in order to please someone else? How so?
As a trader, Catherine’s philosophy is that an equal trade is always the best answer. But when is that untrue?
When Samuel Crane tries to explain to Catherine his perspective on love, he says that love is greater when need is not part of the equation. What role do you think need plays in love?
The relationship between Catherine and Bright Star is complicated by grudges and grief. Catherine felt her sister was an impenetrable wall at times. Have you had a family member or friend who was also difficult to reach? If so, what has worked in connecting with that person?
At the end of the book, it is a revelation to Catherine that she is not responsible for Gabriel’s happiness, so she is finally able to put some healthy boundaries in place. Have you had the experience of others relying on you to make them happy? How have you coped with that?
Samuel reminds Catherine that life is about more than just the two of them and their happily-ever-after. When have you had to set aside your own desire for a greater purpose? Did you freely make the choice, or do you feel it was made for you?
After the battle on the Plains of Abraham, Catherine wrestles with guilt, even though the battle would have happened even if she had not brought Samuel to Quebec. Do you tend to struggle with guilt even when the blame is not yours alone? How do you deal with that?
Catherine fears that Joseph’s death will be the final shattering to her relationship with Bright Star, and yet Bright Star shocks her with forgiveness and acceptance. When have you been surprised by grace?
Jocelyn Green inspires faith and courage as the award-winning and bestselling author of numerous fiction and nonfiction books, including Christy Award–winning The Mark of the King; A Refuge Assured; Free to Lean: Making Peace with Your Lopsided Life; and The 5 Love Languages Military Edition, which she coauthored with bestselling author Dr. Gary Chapman. She graduated from Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, with a BA in English, concentration in writing. She loves Mexican food, Broadway musicals, strawberry-rhubarb pie, the color red, and reading with a cup of tea. Jocelyn lives with her husband, Rob, their two children, and two cats in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Visit her at www.jocelyngreen.com.
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Table of Contents
Cover
Praise for Between Two Shores
Half Title Page
Books by Jocelyn Green
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Contents
Epigraph
Prologue
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Part Two 19
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Epilogue
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
Discussion Questions
About the Author
Back Ads
Back Cover
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