Evangeline: A Novel

Evangeline Bellefontaine is a pretty, proud, accomplished daughter of the elderly Benedict, who dotes on her. Despite her mother's death shortly after her birth, she has lacked neither love nor educational opportunities. Growing up amidst a close-knit community in Acadia (what is now known as Nova Scotia), she has learned to read and speak English as well as her native French. Along with most of her countrymen, she is clear-eyed and sensible about living smack in the center of frequent skirmishes between the French and British, which have been going on for generations. They have kept their land by remaining neutral, and there is no reason to think that this batch of Redcoats will be any more difficult to handle than the last. Besides, she has her upcoming wedding to Gabriel Lajeunesse to think about. As a concession to the unrest, they will be married outside in the forest at a small ceremony officiated by their old family friend, Father Felician Abadie. Yet they are sadly mistaken, and the British this time are serious about occupying their lands --- so serious that the villagers are tricked into town and taken prisoner. Gabriel's father's loud public protests against the English make him and his son targets, and soon Evangeline suffers the heartache of seeing her beloved Gabriel and his malcontent father rowed out to a waiting ship. Over the next few days hundreds of locals follow, stowed below deck on the crowded ships until they sail. The descriptions of the makeshift shelters on the shore, replete with trunks of precious items left behind, are among the most poignant in the book. Benedict dies soon, held captive in the church at the fort, and leaves Evangeline in the care of Father Felician, who perhaps doesn't know what he's in for. Evangeline is nothing if not determined and faithful to the memory of Gabriel. It takes her 13 years, and the remainder of the book is the tale of how she makes her way south in pre-Civil War America, accompanied by Felician and Bernard Arseneau, a trapper. We learn about Evangeline's years working in various hospitals, as well as the Louisiana Bayou where Gabriel has landed. Unfortunately, he is not quite as steadfast as Evangeline, and she has the sense to suspect after so many years that he might not be. Yet their eventual reunion is satisfyingly dramatic. Along the way we learn quite a bit about trapping and river travel. Debut novelist Ben Farmer laces the story with information about those times past, employing words strange to our ears, like sabot, berserker and animadvert. EVANGELINE was inspired by a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and snippets from this epic verse introduce each chapter. Journey stories are deeply ingrained in our psyche, as Joseph Campbell reminded us. Longfellow recognized this in Evangeline's story and immortalized it in poem form. Now Farmer has reinvested this classic adventure tale with plenty of historical detail and character traits that will surely bring it alive for ma

In 1755 the British army ruthlessly marches through one of their colonies Acadia to evict the unwelcome French citizens from their homes and loved ones. Families are torn apart without regard as ethnic cleansing of the French Catholics is the regal policy. As part of the royal eviction, lovers Evangeline Bellefontaine and Gabriel Lajeunesse are separated, deported, and sent to different areas in the colonies that leave them several hundred miles from one another. Evangeline makes a concerted effort to find the love of her life. Her trek is dangerous but she believes it is worth it though he may be in the lower English colonies, out west amidst the French colonies, or as far away as the Louisiana bayous where many Acadians ended up after the "Great Expulsion"; she chooses Louisiana on a decade odyssey accompanied by trapper Bernard Arseneau and priest Father Felician. Ben Farmer provides an intriguing novelization of the classic Longfellow poem. The story line brings to life the French-British conflict in North America as it intrudes on colonial existence. Although the history overwhelms the cast even the title character, readers will enjoy Mr. Farmer's detailed impressive look at the impact of the hostilities between the French and British had on the North American colonists and the regional Indian tribes Harriet Klausner

I have no recent memory of any author who was able to link each word together and combine natural description of each scene to create a fluid complexity of words they allowed the reader to connect to the story. The imagery really captured the time period and raw beauty of the experience for me and allowed me to connect so deeply with the characters themselves. I look forward to any future novel by Mr. Farmer...

This novel is chock full of fascinating historical references yet the author maintains the lyrical flow of a touching love story. I had the privilege of attending a panel discussion featuring Mr. Farmer and was impressed by his knowledge and wit. Hard to believe this is his first effort. Not an easy read, but a very good one.

I don't want to go too in depth into the wonderful ways Evangeline stays true to the original, while also bringing a fresh approach and storytelling power to this well known tale. Suffice it to say, this is a fantastic debut novel and this reader will be on the lookout for any future books by Mr. Farmer.