Into the heart of the country : a novel

Longlisted for the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize Set in the eighteenth century, in what is now Manitoba, this unflinching and powerful novel takes the reader deep into unexplored territory. Molly Norton, mixed-blood daughter of Governor Moses Norton, is ill-prepared for the ordeal fate has in store. Dressed in English clothes unsuited to the harsh conditions at the Prince of Wales Fort and forbidden to practice the traditional skills of her mother's people, Molly bears witness to her father's increasingly tyrannical rule. Governor Norton is suspicious of every man, but particularly resentful of Matonabbee, the esteemed hunter and Dene captain, whom he once considered his brother. But it is the explorer Samuel Hearne who receives the brunt of Norton's temper when, returning from his expedition, he sets his sights on Molly. In the days that follow, larger events unfold and every man, woman and child at the fort is confronted by forces greater than themselves. Allegiances are both broken and tragically upheld as one of history's cruel ironies takes shape in the harsh ancestral landscape from which Molly descends. Book Description Longlisted for the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize Set in eighteenth-century Canada, this compelling new novel takes the reader deep into unexplored territory. Appearing only fleetingly in the historical record of the Hudson?s Bay Company are the Native women who lived at the company?s Prince of Wales Fort and served as companions to the European traders -- and whose survival was bound, for better or worse, to the fortunes of those men. Across more than two centuries, the mixed-blood woman Molly Norton, daughter of Governor Moses and personal favourite of the explorer Samuel Hearne, speaks to us from her dreams. As the story of her liaison with Hearne unfolds, we move toward its tragic consequences. When their small society is torn apart, Molly and the other women find themselves and their children abandoned by their British masters. Now -- in one of history?s cruel ironies -- they must fend for themselves in the harsh country from which their own ancestors sprang. Unflinching, powerful and rich in moral ambiguity, Into the Heart of the Country explores a tragic meeting of cultures that still reverberates in the present day. "Set in 18th-century Churchill. Appearing only fleetingly in the historical record of the Hudson's Bay Company are the Native women who lived at the company's Prince of Wales Fort and served as "country wives" to the European traders - and whose survival was bound, for better or worse, to the fortunes of these men. Across more than two centuries, the mixed-blood woman Mary Norton, daughter of Governor Moses and personal favourite of explorer Samuel Hearne, speaks to us from her dreams."--Publisher Pauline Holdstock. Includes Bibliographical Reference (p. 399-[400]).