If you’re looking for a novel…
A good book makes history come alive, don’t you think? I was leery about reading Barkskins. It’s 700 pages about the northeast U.S. timber industry before and after the American Revolution. Hardly sounded like spell-binding stuff, but it was!
I could not put this book down. Wonderful writing, great characters and rich atmosphere. I admit, I love this period of history. (My novel, A FALSE DAWN, is set during the same period.) But Proulx made trees, and the people who cut them down, absolutely fascinating. 700 pages plus, and someday I’ll read it again. (I believe that if a book isn’t worth reading twice, it probably wasn’t worth reading the first time.)
When I taught sixth grade, I used to assign novels to all the kids, based on their reading abilities and on the time period in history we were studying. The kids loved it. Not surprisingly, the high level readers (all girls. Hmmmm) enjoyed anything I assigned. But even the low readers (all boys) seemed to enjoy the books, especially since I didn’t make them answer questions about the stories, so they were not reading for the answers, just, I hoped, for the pleasure.
Is there anything more terrific than a good novel?
About The Author
Jeff Heller
I'm a historical novelist who focuses on Colonial America, particularly the French-Canadians who settled North America in the 1600s and 1700s. My first novel, A FALSE DAWN, features Louise, a young wife and mother who must search for her son and her husband when the English invade their home in French-held Montreal and torch the city.