Our Canadian Girl

Anne Laurel Carter

Q: Why did you decide to write about the Acadian Expulsion of 1755?

AC: Before I became a writer I was a French immersion teacher and was always inspired by Acadian stories. The deportation of the Acadians is a tragic example of one country dominating another, and stealing their land. The issue of war and "occupied territory" continues in many countries around the world today with tragic consequences for refugees.

In 1755 the Protestant English dominated Nova Scotia and were able to deport over 10,000 Roman Catholic, French-speaking Acadians. Basically they stole their fertile farmlands and brought in Protestant settlers from Europe and New England -- the Planters -- as quickly as possible.

I discovered the history of the Planters after writing The Girl on Evangeline Beach, a YA novel concerning the Acadian Expulsion. In my research I discovered that a number of Acadian prisoners were held in Fort Edward during the summer of 1762. Most were deported again, but some were "hired" to work as cheap labour. Their ability to rebuild and maintain the dikes was needed by the Planter community. I wondered what it would be like for a kind-hearted, immigrant Planter girl, "Elizabeth," to discover what it meant to be given occupied land? She would have no power to change the course of history, but what if she could do something to help her new friend, the daughter of an Acadian family?

Q: What kind of research did you do to find out about the world Elizabeth lived in?

AC: I already knew a great deal about these times from my extensive research for The Girl on Evangeline Beach. I made several new trips to Fort Edward and the Wolfville area to visit Planter historical homes and to speak with Planter historians. And of course I used several books edited by Margaret Conrad that dealt with Planter Nova Scotia.

Q: What do you think was most different about life in that time?

AC: For children, in terms of what they did every day, I think it was the need to work. This was a highly labour intensive era. That means that there weren't machines for threshing, or cars and trucks for quick transportation, or stores that sold ready made food and clothing. Most things were done by hand and took a lot of time and energy. Especially on farms, children were a really important part of the family because they had many valued chores. They were given responsibilities much earlier and knew their valued place in a family and community.

Q: Do you think that Elizabeth would be a very different person if she were alive today?

AC: Not at all. She'd be a spirited, kind, and sensitive girl whenever she lived.

Q: Would you want to go back and live in that time yourself?

AC: Yes! Although I know I romanticize the past. I love camping and living without a phone or TV or computer at a cottage, close to nature. I'd go back if I knew I could have a hospital and modern medicine available to me.