Carolyn D. Redl's memoir of growing up on a northern Saskatchewan farm in the 1940s and '50s captures, in the vivid memories of one girl, a way of life that is a vital part of Canada's social history. But it is much more than a recollection of rural life. A Canadian Childhood is, above all, a beautifully realized coming-of-age story, the story of a girl with an adventurous and restless spirit in an era when women's roles were just starting to become less restricted. Alongside the colourful details of everyday life--skiing to school, collecting magpie eggs for bounty, going "swimming" in a frigid snow-melt pond--are the struggles she experiences as she tries to find her place in the world. Raised in a warm and loving family, she is nevertheless painfully aware that her father longs for a boy to help work the farm. Going to the one-room farm school becomes an ordeal with the constant threat of bullying. The welcome move to town for high school is coupled with the humiliation of having to live in a garage. Through it all, the question of her future looms as she confronts the lure of the horizon. Richly detailed and deftly told, A Canadian Childhood will be enjoyed not just as a fascinating snapshot of history, but as a moving, honest, and courageous life story.
- | Author: Carolyn D. Redl
- | Publisher: FriesenPress
- | Publication Date: Sep 15, 2016
- | Number of Pages: 324 pages
- | Language: English
- | Binding: Hardcover/Biography & Autobiography
- | ISBN-10: 1460288319
- | ISBN-13: 9781460288313
- Author:
- Carolyn D. Redl
- Publisher:
- FriesenPress
- Publication Date:
- Sep 15, 2016
- Number of pages:
- 324 pages
- Language:
- English
- Binding:
- Hardcover/Biography & Autobiography
- ISBN-10:
- 1460288319
- ISBN-13:
- 9781460288313