THE DEFENDER: Julie Pollock
I live with my husband and son in north Mulmur Township, ideally placed between the Shelburne and Creemore public libraries. I am an editor, writer and perpetual student of language.
I am also president of the Purple Hills Arts & Heritage Society, a volunteer-run charity that proudly supports the Creemore Library Local History and Genealogy Project for historians and families researching genealogical roots.
More and more, I like to read articles, essays and books about history. I’ve also ventured into historical fiction—a fad kicked off by Hilary Mantel’s incandescent Wolf Hall trilogy. While I am keen to understand history’s broader lessons, I am equally fascinated by what families ate for breakfast on early Ontario farms.
History gives us insights on every scale.
THE BOOK: The Lost Diaries of Susanna Moodie by Cecily Ross
Told through imagined “lost diaries,” the novel explores Susanna’s complex inner life from childhood through the worst challenges of pioneering in a harsh and unforgiving landscape with her devoted but hapless and often absent spouse.
Part love story, part coming of age narrative, this captivating novel brings to vivid life Moodie’s courage, wit and strength, as well as her moments of despair. The Lost Diaries of Susanna Moodie shows how one woman, against all odds and adversity, prevailed and made this savage and beautiful land her own. (Goodreads.com)