Michael Angel (2)

Intended as an Instructional Book for the Young and also as a captivating biography of one of the pioneering, yet obstinately upper-class, British women who faced hardship with courage and made their home in Canada in the early 19th century. (Letitia Hargrave would doubtless have described herself as Scottish and Elizabeth Simcoe, for instance, as English, but their circumstances and strength of character were very similar.) If the book were less Instructional, it would be far more readable. Surely the editors could have published a teacher's edition with questions and answers and spared us the inanity of questions such as "What is tripe? Try to find a recipe for making it." (Not "preparing" it! Does the editor even know what tripe is?) and "Joseph James had several nicknames: ... Why do people have nicknames?" Of course, it would have made an already short book (84 pages) about 14 pages shorter -- they could at least have put the questions at the end. As a high school student, I used to hate the inclusion of fatuous or merely intrusive questions in an otherwise interesting book. It spoils the flow of the narrative.

In any case, Letitia Hargrave was an interesting person and this book did a good job of arousing my interest in her and her unusual circumstances.… (mehr)