My second book was released on December 1, 2017. The Ponemah Years: Walking in the Footsteps of My Mother is nonfiction: equal parts biography, history, memoir, and family portrait.
Here is the book’s description and a peek at the cover.
Gabrielle Picard remembered the “long train ride” from Quebec to Connecticut in 1924. She was four years old when her parents and their twelve children emigrated to Taftville, the location of the famous Ponemah Mill—known for its steady work, fair wages, and good housing.
The Ponemah years would be etched by loss, but also brim with hope, hard work, and heroes. This is Gabrielle’s story of becoming a weaver in the 1940s, and her daughter’s journey to know her better.
In a woven narrative of biography, history, memoir, and family portrait, the story unfolds with 184 images from more than 10 decades.
I was delighted to learn recently that The Ponemah Years may hold more uniqueness than I realized—because it offers a glimpse into the life of a French-Canadian immigrant to the U.S. rather than providing a study of the population as a whole. When I first read the article in the Bangor Daily News, I was amazed and so decided to verify the information. A long time Reference/Genealogy Librarian, confirmed that though a few (difficult to locate) articles exist about individuals/families, there are few books on the subject of a specific French-Canadian immigrant. She emailed that my book “breaks new ground.”
The Ponemah Years… can be purchased via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, links below, or locally in Norwich, Connecticut at the Backus Hospital and Slater Museum gift shops.