The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor: The First Woman Settler of the Miramichi

From the time I was a little girl, I heard the words Tabisintac, Taboosimgeg, Miramichi, Nepisiguit, Burnt Church, Mi'kmaq, Abenaki, not to mention the name of Charlotte Taylor, "Mother of Tabusintac". The river that ended at Wishart's Point was my father's playground. It was also the river that he crossed to go to school. Unless it was Spring and there was plowing to be done, or Fall when it was Harvest Time. And then when there was a thaw and the river was too dangerous to cross because of the ice. He didn't get as much education as Charlotte Taylor would have liked, but he was still quite smart. We were proud of him because his picture was in the town library for saving the younger children from drowning on that river. Unfortunately he lost a cousin, which brings me to the point of this review. I am sure we are related to everyone in this extremely well written account of the life of Charlotte Taylor. Sally Armstrong has portrayed a warm, loving, but strong willed woman that I would have been happy to have known. I thank her for this chance to relive the magic of my childhood, when my father would tell us of stories of HIS childhood. Nancy (MacCallum) Hudon