Author: Tyler LeBlanc
Genre: Nonfiction, History
Publication date: April 2020
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Pierre Simpson
Book Description: The untold story of one Acadian family: their experiences following their expulsion and their determination to find a home.
Growing up on the south shore of Nova Scotia, Tyler LeBlanc wasn't fully aware of his family's Acadian roots -- until a chance encounter with an Acadian historian prompted him to delve into his family history. LeBlanc's discovery that he could trace his family all the way to the time of the Acadian Expulsion.
Piecing together his family history through archival documents, Tyler LeBlanc tells the story of Joseph LeBlanc (his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather), Joseph's ten siblings, and their families. With descendants scattered across modern-day Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, the LeBlancs provide a window into the diverse fates that awaited the Acadians when they were expelled from their homeland. Some escaped the deportation and were able to retreat into the wilderness. Others found their way back to Acadie. But many were exiled to Britain, France, or the future United States, where they faced suspicion and prejudice and struggled to settle into new lives.
A unique biographical approach to the history of the Expulsion, Acadian Driftwood is a vivid insight into one family's experience of this traumatic event.
Thoughts:
This book was informative. I cannot say I enjoyed it, that's a bad word choice.
As a society, we know there were a lot of injustices committed against indigenous people when the colonizers arrived in any territory and it has been going on practically forever. What continues to astonish me is how little we are actually taught. I had never heard of the Acadian Expulsion anywhere else. What we normally hear about Canada is how nice and cute the scenery it is but then again we don't usually see history taught about any of the people who were forcibly removed from their lands all over the American Continent.
The author clearly did his research, it is following the tremendous deportation that scattered Acadian ancestors. They had treaties of non-aggression with the King. Then after a few years of peace, the King changed his mind and forced them to get into ships and were dumped in another country, without a care in the world. They suffered atrocities in the name of the King. This relocation destroyed their livelihood and placed them at the bottom of the social ladder, it is no wonder they started to lose their identities, their culture marked them as other, as lesser than.
They were political pawns, not people in the eyes of the British.
The story feels like you have read it or seen it before. The people change, the place, and the time period change, but the reality is the same for many people. A whole culture wiped - They have no control, no voice. Their life is uprooted and carelessly tossed aside.
This was an informative read. It touches on difficult topics. It's meant as an emotional punch simply because there is no justification for the things they went through. Some of this will be familiar, in very general terms because we know by now that it happened to so many but what was new to me is the terrible living conditions of the Acadians once they landed in various countries. The contrast between their prosperous lives back in Acadie and their situations as destitute, dependent prisoners is boldly painted in this book; the isolation and systemic ways they were mistreated in order to ensure they stay at the bottom of the barrel.
I gave this
It's pretty hard to rate historical research because it feels like there is so much more left undisclosed. I am interested in continuing to explore the topic.
This was used for the following challenges:
Nonfiction
Books with social commentary or relevant topics
Books by Indigenous authors
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