I’ve long been fascinated by French history and the French language, so that is where this novel began. But like many people, I knew little of Acadie. Somehow, the epic poem Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, which brought this tragic history to light in the nineteenth century, bypassed me. I often felt overwhelmed while researching and writing The Seamstress of Acadie, hardly believing an event of such cruelty and magnitude happened. It’s a testament to the Acadians’ enduring spirit that a remnant survived such a tragedy and built new communities like those in Louisiana and elsewhere.
Sylvie Galant’s journey asks a timeless theological question. Where is God in the midst of suffering and tragedy? I’m reminded of Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot’s lyrics from “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”: “Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?” To which we can answer, “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:39).
William Blackburn’s character is based on the real-life historical figure Major Robert Rogers, founder of Roger’s Rangers, who has influenced the US Army Rangers to this day. His renowned Battle on Snowshoes actually occurred later than referenced in these pages but was so extraordinary that I included it in the novel’s time frame.
You’ll find characters from my novel A Heart Adrift within The Seamstress of Acadie. Quinn and Eliza Shaw Cheverton, Esmée Shaw, and Henri Lennox’s response to the Acadians was what should have happened historically. Sadly, few exiles were met with anything but hostility and hatred wherever they landed, even from those within the church.
As for the snake scene in chapter 52, this actually happened to an apprentice in eighteenth-century Williamsburg, Virginia. I came across it in my research and thought it served the story well.
For other novels related to Acadian history, I recommend Janette Oke and T. Davis Bunn’s Song of Acadia series, Genevieve Graham’s Promises to Keep, and Cassie Deveaux Cohoon’s Jeanne Dugas of Acadia. There is a wealth of nonfiction about Acadie’s history as well.
Special thanks to Stephanie Rousselle of Gospel Spice Ministries for her gracious help answering questions related to the French language. Any mistakes therein are my own.
For readers who have been to Nova Scotia, once Acadie, I hope you feel you’ve returned there in the novel’s pages. For those who haven’t been, I hope you visit to truly experience what a simple novel can’t convey in words.