Synopsis

The Building of Jalna is one of sixteen books in the Jalna series written by Canada's Mazo de la Roche. In The Building of Jalna, Adeline, an impulsive bride with an Irish temper, and her husband, Captain Whiteoak, select Lake Ontario as the site of their new home. De la Roche chronicles their trials and tribulations during the building of the house, the swimming and skating parties, and the jealousies and humourous events that arise.

I really loved this book. Ms. de la Roche's characters really came alive for me in this novel. Phillip and Adeline Whiteoak are a young couple - Phillip is from England and Adeline from Ireland. The couple had lived for a time in India while Phillip was in the military, but then, both being adventurous and feeling a sense of something missing in their lives, they decide to immigrate to the Canadian frontier. With their first baby, Indian nurse, Adeline's 2 younger brothers, a goat, and a pet bird in tow, they board a ship for the new world. The trip over is rough and sees many hardships, but the couple arrives in Canada and soon begins building their dream home, which they call "Jalna". I look forward to following the remainder of their lives and the lives of their descendants in the other books in the 16-novel series. I came across this series at a library sale, where 15 of the 16 novels were in one box for $5.00. I've since ordered the other book and now have a complete set, but I intend to pass each book on, as I read it, to a friend who is a local bookcrosser and who is interested in reading them, too. I started out organizing them by publication date, but then found a website with info about this series and the author, and discovered that she did not write them in order of the story! She said she wrote them as the story came to her in her head. The website I found gives the order in which to read the books, and this one is the first book chronologically in the story, not in order of publication. Here is the link to the website: http://www.loc.gov/nls/bibliographies/minibibs/jalna.html

I will release this book to my friend at the next Bookcrossing meetup.

Will release at the Midsouth Bookcrossing meetup tomorrow. Happy Reading!

Caught at this morning's meetup...
Looking forward to reading soon.

This book will be released by a MidSouth BookCrosser in honor of MissLou.
Edna Louise Carter Foster closed her last book
and departed this earth on Friday, Feb 22, 2013.
She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
MissLou was a charter member of the MidSouth BookCrossers
and at 88 years young she was also our oldest member.
She always had a smile, a hug, and a kind word for everyone she met.
She loved to read and her very favorite books were historical romances
MissLou wanted all her books to have a 'happy ending'.


MissLou
Edna Louise Carter Foster
9 Aug 1924 - 22 Feb 2013