Author and former Advocate editor Elinor Florence will be signing copies of her new novel about a modern-day homesteader Saturday in Red Deer.
Florence will be at Chapters from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with copies of her latest novel, Wildwood, published by Toronto’s Dundurn Press.
It’s a back-to-the-land story about a broke and desperate woman who accepts a bizarre condition in her aunt’s will. In order to inherit, Molly Bannister must survive, with her young daughter, for one year in an abandoned, off-the-grid farmhouse in the northern backwoods of Alberta. (Yes, Florence borrowed the name of a Red Deer street for her heroine, adding an extra ‘n’ to her last name).
Florence describes Wildwood as being about a young, modern woman from the city who has to learn how to survive like a pioneer — encountering hazards such as blizzards and grizzly bears.
Now based in Invermere, B.C., Florence’s first novel, Bird’s Eye View, was set during the Second World War. It was published in 2014 and made it on to best-seller lists across Canada.