Learning history through a narrative
"When I first moved to Nova Scotia some six years ago I, of course, visited Lunenburg. After all, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After reading Tethered Spirits, my next visit will be very different. It won’t be so much about the colourful vernacular architecture of the place but more about the people of the past. This is the impact that Corrine Hoebers’ book has had on me. By intertwining the lives of many important characters and cultures of the time – German, British, Mi’kmaq, Acadian, French – the reader begins to understand better the many challenges faced in the early days of the British colony in Nova Scotia. Despite being a work of fiction, Tethered Spirits reveals the realities of people from the old world doing their best to survive in a new world but doing so in a context where native people had lived forever. Bear Cub, an old-world person raised in a native culture, serves as the reader’s conduit to this duality, and does so throughout this intriguing tale of social interchange. Admittedly, I could have picked up a book of local history and learned similar historical facts about the times, the people, the place. Instead, I read Tethered Spirits, learned the facts but did so with an engaging narrative. Thank you, Corrine."
