Seamstress of Acadie | Review

The Seamstress of Acadie Published by Revell by Laura Frantz
on January 9, 2024
Genres: Christian, Romance, Clean, Historical
Pages: 416
Source: Netgalley, Publisher
Format: ARC, eBook
Find the Author: Website, Goodreads
Also by this author: Tidewater Bride, A Heart Adrift, The Rose and the Thistle
Find the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

ISBN: 0800740688
Rating:

As 1754 is drawing to a close, tensions between the French and the British on Canada's Acadian shore are reaching a fever pitch. Seamstress Sylvie Galant and her family--French-speaking Acadians wishing to remain neutral--are caught in the middle, their land positioned between two forts flying rival flags. Amid preparations for the celebration of Noël, the talk is of unrest, coming war, and William Blackburn, the British Army Ranger raising havoc across North America's borderlands.
As summer takes hold in 1755 and British ships appear on the horizon, Sylvie encounters Blackburn, who warns her of the coming invasion. Rather than participate in the forced removal of the Acadians from their land, he resigns his commission. But that cannot save Sylvie or her kin. Relocated on a ramshackle ship to Virginia, Sylvie struggles to pick up the pieces of her life. When her path crosses once more with William's, they must work through the complex tangle of their shared, shattered past to navigate the present and forge an enduring future.

I honestly did not expect this book to impact me the way it did. I have read many Christian historical romances and they’re not all built the same. I should’ve known better than to chalk this one up to all the others, though. Because Laura Frantz knows how to pull the heartstrings.

One of my favorite things about this book is that Frantz did her homework. The setting of this story starts in Acadie, Canada–what we now know, in part, as parts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The Acadians were a peaceful people who were, unfortunately, stuck between a pissing contest between the English and French. Even with their French roots, they did their best to remain neutral–with the exception of some rebels.

However, just as others have been historically displaced from their homes for no particular reason, the Acadians were forced from their land by the British when they wouldn’t side with them in the war. To many of their detriment, they were rounded up, stuffed onto ships, and sent to the colonies–but not before many of them died from shipwreck, diseases, etc…

This story was a beautifully, heartbreaking tale of one woman, Sylvie, who was torn from her entire family and ended up in Virginia with almost nothing to her name.

I was struck by the needless pain that Sylvie went through due to the human affliction of greed. Because that’s all it amounted to. And once Sylvie made it out of Acadie alive, she was forced to endure the people’s’ prejudice of being Acadian.

At its heart, this is a love story. But it was also a story of tragedy and rebuilding. There are elements of “Christianity”. However, it’s never anything more than a character’s desire to find something to lean on and help her get through her pain. I appreciated it because it showed resilience in Sylvie’s character, but also how her humanness was something she fought… Trying not to be as cold-hearted as those who did her harm.

This is a story that I will remember for a long time to come. And it really inspired me to learn more about the Acadians and what they endured.

 

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