Accompanied by Prairie Stories
Historical novel inspired by great-great grandparents
To mark the end of our family legacy on the farm, I created a story to offer a written tribute, inspired by the journey initiated by my great-great grandparents in 1905. The historical novel is titled “Wide as the Sky.”
My grandparents’ farm was a special place that we would visit in the spring and harvest as my father helped my grandfather put in the crops and take them off. It was an eight hour drive from our city to the farm. It was an effort to get there, a different world while there, and disappointing when we had to leave.
When I was about fourteen, I was trusted to drive tractors and handle equipment; I started by operating the swather, cultivator, harrower, and in time, the combine and the seeder. My most significant skill was to drive straight lines, and to pay attention to avoid hazards such that the equipment did not break, leave a gap, or bunch up the seed (in spring) or the straw (in harvest). Steady pace and straight lines.
The farm was my first job and lasted until I was in university, where the library offered a more appealing career. As a child of the Canadian prairies, I liked to read stories about the prairies, when assigned to me in school and university; I could relate.
I had real life experience, and the stories helped put things into perspective. I still have these three on my bookshelves, forty years later.
“As For Me and My House” by Sinclair Ross (1941)
“Who Has Seen the Wind” by W.O. Mitchell (1947)
“The Stone Angel” by Margaret Laurence (1964)
As I wrote my historical fiction, in addition to understanding my own family history, I was fascinated to learn Canadian history. Framed with a desire to understand my family lineage, my country’s history made a deeper connection.
The novel took a long time to write. I was embarking on a new path as a novelist and I needed to develop skills and learn by doing. I kept coming back, however, and persevered to fulfill this promise to myself. I wanted to learn more about where I came from, what was it like for my great-great grandparents who started the farm.
I wanted to have a memory of my great-great grandmother, so I imagined a story about her.
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