Wilmont Kreis

Life in Quebec during the late 1600’s was hard to say the least. Anyone who has experienced the Winter Carnival in Quebec likely remembers the weather (photo). The colonists differed greatly from their English counterparts to the south. The population was routinely Catholic and, of course, predominately French. Anyone who has visited both England and France has experienced the delightful differences between the two groups even today. Native relations were different as well due to the attitudes of the two European cultures as well as the respective natives. The Algonquin who predominated New France were hunters and relatively nomadic while the Iroquois in New England tended toward agriculture and stable communities. Francois Allard worked for three years for Anne Ardouin, a widow with adult children, and her relationship with an Indian family would not have been odd. I chose to maintain this relationship with the Allards throughout the early books. I also took the opportunity to bring both mundane daily and exciting famous events into the lives of my characters. More about that later…