Book cover for John Winslow at Grand-Pré: Diaries of the Acadian Deportations, Volume Two transcribed and annotated by Jonathan Fowler and Earle Lockerby (Gaspereau Press): John Winslow was one of the most significant American military leaders of the generations before George Washington. Winslow’s career carried him to the corners of the Atlantic world, soldiers flocked to his banner, and his exploits were celebrated in song. But instead of creating a country, he destroyed one. Following the successful siege of the French Fort Beauséjour at Chignecto in 1755, Nova Scotia Governor Charles Lawrence ordered Winslow to deport Acadian families from their settlements in the middle of the province. Winslow found these instructions both surprising and disturbing, but he followed them, recording his actions in his journal. The 1755 deportations of the Acadians forever altered the social and political landscape of Atlantic Canada and contributed to the unique character of the Acadian and Cajun communities that developed in their aftermath. In John Winslow at Grand-Pré Jonathan Fowler and Earle Lockerby have faithfully transcribed and extensively annotated Winslow’s eye-witness account of this seminal event of 18th-century North American history. Supported by maps, illustrations, and extensive contextualizing essays and appendices, this new presentation of Winslow’s 1755 journal provides an invaluable window on those troubled times. https://gaspereaupress.com/books/john-winslow-at-grand-pre/
Book cover by Slice the Water by PP Wong (Goose Lane Editions): Longlisted, Canada Reads. Born on the lush island nation of Mahana, Fred lives under the tyrannical rule of a book-burning king. Under the king’s rule, Mahanians are controlled by a military dictatorship and threatened with forced starvation, while people with disabilities are exiled. After Fred’s father suddenly disappears, Fred joins an underground movement of dissenters and becomes an unwitting global icon in the fight for Mahanian freedom. When he is recruited and relocated by an organization that appears sympathetic to Fred’s cause, he arrives in a seemingly peaceful foreign nation, where the impact of social media and technology creates a new, stranger struggle. A dystopian thriller, a work of speculative fiction, and a coming-of-age story, Wong’s novel thrums with biting bursts of staccato-like prose — a fitting accompaniment to a fascinating exploration of contrasting political systems. As Fred unpeels layers of truth and sees beyond the optics of altruism and the illusion of choice, Slice the Water unpacks the myriad amplifying impacts of technology, addiction, and complacency. https://gooselane.com/products/slice-the-water
Daily(ish) #SmallPress #books from #NovaScotia publishers: John Winslow at Grand-Pré (by Jonathan Fowler @coldh20.bsky.social & Earle Lockerby, @gaspereaupress.bsky.social) & Slice the Water (by PP Wong, @gooselane.bsky.social). See alt-text. #DSPBposts #NSarts #DefendNSbooks #bookish 💙📚 #BookSky
