The year is 1773. Anne Grant cannot bear that her father has betrothed her to a man who is as cruel as he is wealthy. Instead, she persuades her life-long friend, Ian MacLeod, to help her flee to Ullapool and get aboard the Hector, a ship carrying Scottish settlers to the new colony of Pictou, Nova Scotia. The voyage begins well and the Scots look forward to a life of freedom in the New World. But as Anne adjusts to the Hector, she begins to realize that life at sea may be more than she bargained for: storms, smallpox and near famine threaten to tear the ship apart. Oatcakes and Courage, a tribute to the brave Scots who ventured across the North Atlantic Ocean in search of a better life, is told with harrowing realism.

Joyce Grant-Smith was born in Annapolis Royal and has spent most of her life in the beautiful Annapolis Valley. She completed her Bed at Acadia University in 1979 and has enjoyed teaching in elementary and middle schools ever since. She and her husband, Les, have been married for over thirty years, and have have raised two children, Jesse and Alexis, and a large menagerie of animals. Joyce's profound connection with some of her pets prompted her to learn more about animal communication and to begin this book.

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