In 1910, young Pierre Maturié bid farewell to his comfortablebourgeois existence in rural France and travelled to northern Albertain search of independence, adventure, and newfound prosperity. Somesixty years later, he wrote of the four years he spent in Canada beforehe returned to France in 1914 to fight in the First World War. Likethat of so many youthful pioneers, his story is one of adventure andhardship—perilous journeys, railroad construction in the Rockies,panning for gold in swift-flowing streams, transporting goods for theHudson’s Bay Company along the Athabasca River. Blessed with therare gift of a natural storyteller, Maturié conveys his abidingnostalgia for a country he loved deeply yet ultimately had toabandon.
Maturié’s memoir, Athabasca, Terre de ma jeunesse,appeared in France in 1972, to a warm reception. Now, in the deft andmarvellously empathetic translation of Vivien Bosley, it is at longlast available in English. As a portrait of pioneer life in northernAlberta, as a window onto the French experience in Canada, and, aboveall, as an irresistible story—it will continue to find a place inthe hearts of readers for years to come.
