• Age: 12 to 18
• Grade: 7 to 12

French-Canadian soldier, Napoleon, proposes to Lea during WWI, promising golden fields of wheat as far as the eye can see. After the armistice, he sends money for her passage, and she journeys far from her family and the conveniences of a modern country to join him on a homestead in Saskatchewan. There, she works hard to build their dream of a prospering farm, clearing fields alongside her husband through several pregnancies and even after suffering a terrible loss. When the stock market crashes in ’29, the prairies are stricken by a long and abysmal drought. Thrown into poverty, she struggles to survive in a world where work is scarce, death is abundant, and hope dwindles. Will she and her family survive the Great Depression?

Award winning author, Suzanne de Montigny, wrote her first novella when she was twelve. Years later, she discovered it in an old box in the basement, thus reigniting her love affair with writing. A teacher for twenty years, she enjoys creating fantasy and paranormal for tweens and teens. She lives in Burnaby, B.C., Canada with the four loves of her life – her husband, two boys, and Buddy the dog.

Suzanne de Montigny's profile page

Ms de Montigny's contribution to the Canadian Historical Brides series is well written and true to the time period. A wonderful addition to the series.

N.M. Rafter

Canadian Historical Brides (Saskatchewan)

by !pen pusher!

Canadian Historical Brides (Saskatchewan)

BooksWeLove Inc dedicated this series to the immigrants male and female, who left their homes and families, crossed oceans and endured unimaginable hardships in order to settle in the Canadian wilderness and build new lives in a rough and untamed county.

If you have read an enjoyed Little House on the Prairie and the rest of the series by Laura Ingalls Wilder you will enjoy Fields of Gold.

De Montigny brings the past to life in this novel about her grandparents Lea and Napoleon who met in Belgium during the First World War. After she promised to marry him, Napoleon returned to Canada with the promise that he would give her fields of gold. He sends her the money for her tickets, and after an emotional farewell to her family she is reunited with him.

I shared Lea and Napoleon’s determination to be homesteaders, build a house and raise
a family despite obstacles. De Montigny brings past times to life in this beautifully written fact fiction novel. She is a talented novelist whose word pictures I enjoy. For example, Napoleon’s description of Saskatchewan. “It’s a beautiful place, miles and miles of flat land as far as the eye can see, and golden fields of wheat. And the skies like scenes from heaven – castles, cathedrals, angels, even animals.”

This novel is a ‘page turner’. When I finished it I wanted to share more of Lea and Napoleon’s joys and sorrows during their long struggle to tame their land overcome setbacks.

Review by Rosemary Morris