We hit the prairie backroads in July, admiring the big skies and meeting readers along the way.
Welcome to Letters From Windermere, where I write about:
- HISTORY: mostly Western Canada history, plus any other subject that captures my interest.
- WRITING: info about Finding Flora, my new historical homesteading novel.
- BOOKS: I recommend a good book every month.
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But First, My Book News
UPDATE: My event with Indigo CEO Heather Reisman, planned for September 10, 2025, has been indefinitely postponed due to an unavoidable scheduling conflict.
Instead, I will appear at the same location, Indigo Books at Bay and Bloor, from noon to 4 p.m. Friday, September 12 to chat with readers and sign books. I hope to see my Toronto followers there!
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Finding Flora is still going strong after seventeen weeks!
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Flora is now an Audiobook! You can find it on any listening devices including Audible, Kobo, and Apple Books. This is my lovely narrator Madeleine Maby, who even does accents for the various characters.
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Both my older novels are out of print. I don’t have any copies of Wildwood left, but I’m selling off my last few copies of Bird’s Eye View for $20 each. Unfortunately Canada Post charges another $20 to mail in Canada.
If you would like a signed, dedicated, gift-wrapped, First Edition of Bird’s Eye View for yourself or someone else, e-transfer $40 or send me a cheque and I’ll pop it in the mail. It costs the same to mail two books as one, so for $60 I can mail two copies at once. Contact me at elinor@elinorflorence.com for details.
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Prairie Backroads and Book Events
We began our July trip to the prairies in Medicine Hat, Alberta, where we enjoyed visiting the stunning Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre. The museum has a terrific display of early ranching in the southern prairies, when Longhorns like this one roamed the open range.
Then it was on to Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. We visited two more pioneer museums there, the Jasper Cultural & Historical Centre, and the Southwest Saskatchewan Oldtimers Museum.
The Jasper museum has some wonderful local artifacts, including this display of local brands dating to 1900 when Saskatchewan was still part of the North-West Territories.
Cowtown Kids Toy & Candy on main street, the largest independent toy store in Saskatchewan, draws thousands of visitors each year. And it also has a book store, which still has copies of both my older novels.
You can tell this is ranch country! The bookstore even has a display of toy cattle in its front window.
After all that excitement, we refreshed ourselves at the Rafter R Brewing Company in Maple Creek.
We drove out to Cypress Hills Provincial Park, a sight not to be missed. I revisited Bald Butte, the highest point of land between Labrador and the Rocky Mountains. When I was twelve years old, my family was standing atop this lookout when I decided to RUN down the steep slope. I tumbled all the way to the bottom, gashing my leg horribly, and had multiple stitches at the Maple Creek hospital. Kids do the darnedest things!
Then we hit the prairie backroads to Eastend, Saskatchewan, where I had the great pleasure of spending June last year in this charming home, when I was the recipient of the annual Wallace Stegner Grant for the Arts. I wrote about it here: Wallace Stegner House.
I also visited some of the lovely people I met last year including Will Wilson, who retired to Eastend and opened Antelope Books & Rare Maps. He’s an erudite guy who can speak knowledgeably on any topic! Read more about the town and its inhabitants here: Ode to Eastend.
The prairie backroads then led to a cowboy steak dinner at the Historic Reesor Ranch, a five-generation family working ranch that caters to guests, located right on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, nestled under the Cypress Hills. What a great place for a wedding or a family reunion!
After our rural sojourn, we headed north to Saskatoon. This beautiful city, sometimes called Queen of the Prairies, is my former home since I earned my English degree at the University of Saskatchewan. We decided to splash out and stay at the historic Bessborough Hotel, one of the grand old railway hotels.
While in Saskatoon, I visited all three Indigo stores to sign copies of Finding Flora. I also had a lovely event at one of my favourite independent bookstores, McNally Robinson Books.
Then it was on to the Florence Family Farm, located 15 kilometres east of North Battleford. My brother Rob took over the farm, along with his wife Wendy and his son Drew. Here’s a photo of my beloved brother and me.
I still own a quarter-section of farmland there which Rob manages very capably — this year it is producing wheat.
I gave a book talk at the North Battleford Public Library, where I met some old friends and made new ones! this is fellow author Betty Ternier Daniels, who lives on a farm near Cochin, Saskatchewan, and writes mystery novels.
I also met my friend Julia Frank for lunch at the Kihiw Restaurant in North Battleford, adjacent to the Gold Eagle Casino. Julia, a member of the Sweetgrass Nation, is doing her best to promote and preserve the Cree language. She named the black mustang in Finding Flora. “Tipiskow” means “midnight” in Cree.
I honoured my own Métis roots with a bowl of bison stew and a slice of toasted bannock, a fitting way to wrap up our annual prairie trip. I’m already looking forward to coming back next summer!
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Book of the Month
For a blend of fascinating non-fiction historical research about the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, and the first serial killer in American history, read The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America. Combining the stories of an architect and a killer in one book, mostly in alternating chapters, seems like an odd choice but I thought it worked very well.
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Thanks as always for your ongoing support!
Affectionately, Elinor
