Margaret Elphinstone - Voyageurs

Rating: 5/5

Review:

I thought Voyageurs was excellent.  I tried it on the recommendation of a friend and I'm very glad I did: it was involving, fascinating, extremely well written and completely gripping.

Set in 1811, the story is narrated by Mark Greenhow, a Quaker farmer in Cumberland whose sister travels to Canada and goes missing in the Canadian wilderness.  Mark travels after her to try to find her, following the fur-trading routes in canoes paddled by the voyageurs of the title.  It is a long, hard but fascinating journey; Margaret Elphinstone paints a remarkably vivid and superbly researched picture of life at the time, with wars, political chicanery, the lives of the native tribes and the perils of frontier life.  She also brings us very believable characters and some exciting adventures, and makes subtle but important points about family ties, friendship, integrity and much else.

It is beautifully written.  I found Marks' voice utterly convincing and a pleasure to read.  It's a very rich book, but one of the things I loved was the way Mark struggled with his feelings and the strict Quaker rules he has always lived by, and how he manages to adapt and sometimes "fall" while never losing his fundamental integrity and principles – and how his reputation as an honest, principled man can sometimes protect him where the threat of violence would not.

I found this gripping, touching and full of thoughtful, readable stuff.  Very warmly recommended.