Alone in an Untamed Land: The Filles Du Roi Diary of Helene St. Onge

Some may find this book distasteful due to it's theme on child brides and traditional womens roles from the french sun kings time, I believe that this shows us the importance of not judging the past too harshly against modern-day morals. A young teenage bride is sent to a strange foreign land recalling her journey and hardships through her own words.

I highly enjoyed this book based on the second people to go into the Upper part of North America. The story is about the original settlers - the Indians and the first to go into the interior- the French. It is sad in the beginning but is a great read through out! I can’t wait until my grandchildren are old enough for me to read it to them or have them read it themselves. I do not know how this book ended up only 3 stars as a review! It was the first Dear Canada book I read and enjoyed enough to come back for more!

This was the second Dear Canada book I ever read (after "Orphan at My Door", and having read all the series since, I can honestly say that it's my favourite. The filles du roi are a little known incident in Canadian history, but they are very fascinating, and really exhibit extroardinary courage on the part of the girls involved. After reading the book 5 years ago in Grade 5, it inspired me to do a huge history project on it, so I learned a great deal more about the subject. The novel itself, told in diary form like the rest of the series, is well written, and the author, Maxine Trottier, is my favourite Canadian author of historical fiction. I would recommend "Sister to the Wolf" for a slightly more mature, but wonderful read. It was nice to learn some French words and such from their use in the novel, and though it's slightly gross to our modern sensibilities for a 15 or so year old girl to marry a thirty-something man, it was commonplace back then, and we actually believe in their romance without thinking of him as a pedophile. Over all, a great book, which I would recommend to any kid, teenager, or even adult who is interested in history.

This book is one of the Dear Canada series, which are historical novels, written in diary format, about fictional girls during different periods of Canadian history. After their father dies of smallpox in the winter of 1666, thirteen-year-old Helene St. Onge and her older sister, sixteen-year-old Catherine, are left all alone in the world, their mother having died when Helene was a baby. Catherine decides they will leave France to make a new life in the New World. New France is mostly populated by men, and women are needed for their wives. Catherine will marry a settler, and Helene will help in her household until she is old enough to marry. But things do not go as planned. Catherine dies during the long sea voyage, and Helene finds herself arriving in New France, all alone in a strange new land. Can Helene build a new life for herself in this new world? I really enjoyed this book in the Dear Canada series. I love reading about colonial times, so I really enjoyed the setting of Montreal in 1666. Helene was an appealing narrator and I loved reading her "diary" of all that happened to her. I would definitely recommend this book to readers who enjoyed other books in this series, or who like other historical diary fiction series, such as Dear America and the Royal Diaries.

Young Hélène St. Onge and her older sister Catherine are orphans. When King Louis XVI orders all men in New France to marry, Catherine becomes a fille du roi, one of the many young women sent to the new world as brides. Hélène will accompany her on the long sea voyage and live with her sister’s new family. But Catherine dies during the gruelling journey, and Hélène finds herself alone in strange new country. New France is a far harsher place than she imagined, with bitter winters and the threat of attack from the Iroquois. Will the new friendships she has made on her long voyage enable her to survive?