Bride of New France by Suzanne Desrochers

Laure and Madeleine know little of the place called New France, except for stories of ferocious winters and men who eat the hearts of French priests. The King, however, needs French women in his new colony and he finds a fresh supply in the citys largest orphanage. Laure once dreamed with her best friend Madeleine of using her needlework stills to become a seamstress on the Rue Saint-Honoré and to one day marry a gentleman. In 1669, Laure Beausejour, an orphan imprisoned with prostitutes, the insane and other forgotten women in Paris infamous Salpetriere, is sent across the Atlantic to New France as a Fille du roi. 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title.īook Description Soft cover. What happens to a woman who attempts to make her own life choices in such authoritative times?īride of New France is a beautiful debut novel that explores a fascinating chapter in Canadian history. But Laure finds, through her clandestine relationship with Deskaheh, an allied Iroquois, a sense of the possibilities in this New World. From the moment she arrives in Ville-Marie (Montreal), Laure is expected to marry and produce children with a French soldier who can himself barely survive the harsh conditions of his forest cabin. To be banished to Canada is a punishment worse than death.īride of New France explores the challenges of coming into womanhood in a brutal time and place. The King, however, needs French women in his new colony and he finds a fresh supply in the city’s largest orphanage. In 1669, Laure Beausejour, an orphan imprisoned with prostitutes, the insane and other forgotten women in Paris’ infamous Salpetriere, is sent across the Atlantic to New France as a Fille du roi.

Bride of New France by Suzanne Desrochers