BOOK REVIEWS BY PEGI EYERS
The Street Arab: The Story of a British Home Child
Sandra Joyce
Welldone Publishing, 2011
Caroline: An Extraordinary Lady
Gloria Fidler
Cornerstone Publishing, 2015
Sandra Joyce
Welldone Publishing, 2011
Caroline: An Extraordinary Lady
Gloria Fidler
Cornerstone Publishing, 2015
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Through various migration schemes from 1830 to 1940, the influx of British Home Children was a major contribution to the historic rise of Canada, and over 10% of Canadians today are descended from this diaspora. Narratives of sacrifice and suffering as endured by these early Empire-builders have been reclaimed in our time, and we now have a modern perception of the “Child Migrant” programs as mercenary, opportunistic, traumatic and unfair. Children in poverty were marginalized, homeless and orphaned due to the Industrial Revolution, wars and other displacements in the UK, and arrived on Canadian shores to years of servitude as domestics and laborers through an agenda akin to child slavery. Once taboo and unrecognized, there has been an explosion of research and fictional accounts in recent years that uncovers the truth of our common heritage, and begins to reconcile this painful legacy.
Storytelling is a wonderful way to honor our ancestors, as we may know key dates and the places where they were living, but not the more intimate details of their lives. For those who share a passion for genealogy, filling in the blanks with a fictional treatment or composite can inform, entertain and pay tribute. One of the best accounts of the British Home Children era is Sandra Joyce’s The Street Arab, a story that captures the reality and atmosphere of village life in Scotland, and how an unlikely combination of events can lead to hard times. Based on the experiences of her own father after WWI, Joyce traces the journey of young Robbie James to a “new life in a new land” in Canada, where he meets with condescension and mistreatment during a series of placements as a farm laborer. Not all British Home Children encountered hardship, but when they were released from servitude at age 18 the majority went on to have productive and even successful lives.
Storytelling is a wonderful way to honor our ancestors, as we may know key dates and the places where they were living, but not the more intimate details of their lives. For those who share a passion for genealogy, filling in the blanks with a fictional treatment or composite can inform, entertain and pay tribute. One of the best accounts of the British Home Children era is Sandra Joyce’s The Street Arab, a story that captures the reality and atmosphere of village life in Scotland, and how an unlikely combination of events can lead to hard times. Based on the experiences of her own father after WWI, Joyce traces the journey of young Robbie James to a “new life in a new land” in Canada, where he meets with condescension and mistreatment during a series of placements as a farm laborer. Not all British Home Children encountered hardship, but when they were released from servitude at age 18 the majority went on to have productive and even successful lives.
Caroline: An Extraordinary Lady by Gloria Fidler also brings the emigration era alive with her novel based on the life of a real family member, a widowed mother of five who risks all to realize better opportunities for herself and her children in Canada. Like so many who were separated from parents and siblings, the children left England separately and were reunited after many years apart. For an entire cohort of new Settlers, keeping the bonds of family alive was the most heart-wrenching challenge to self-identity and continuity.
With well-researched and potent fiction such as these two examples as a starting point, you can also explore the heritage of British Home Children at http://canadianbritishhomechildren.weebly.com .
The Street Arab: The Story of a British Home Child ~ See the author’s website at www.sandrajoyce.com for ordering and bookstore information.
Caroline: An Extraordinary Lady is available from the author Gloria Fidler at kfidler2@cogeco.ca
With well-researched and potent fiction such as these two examples as a starting point, you can also explore the heritage of British Home Children at http://canadianbritishhomechildren.weebly.com .
The Street Arab: The Story of a British Home Child ~ See the author’s website at www.sandrajoyce.com for ordering and bookstore information.
Caroline: An Extraordinary Lady is available from the author Gloria Fidler at kfidler2@cogeco.ca
 | Pegi Eyers is the author of Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community, an award-winning book that explores strategies for uncolonization, social justice, ethnocultural identity, building land-emergent community & resilience in times of massive change. Available from Stone Circle Press or Amazon. |
