Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather, is a beautiful book about Quebec City in the 1600s. This was the first Cather I ever read. My mother recommended the book to me when I think I was only 12. I loved it, but many decades have passed since then, and I could barely remember what it was about. I only remembered it was about Quebec, an apothecary and his young daughter and that I had thoroughly enjoyed it. For some reason it popped into my head that it would be a good read aloud for Becky but I thought I'd better pre-read it to make sure. Well, it is just a gloriously, poignantly beautiful book.
Cecile, when she was a very little girl, and her father Euclide Auclair moved from France to Quebec to follow the Count Frontenac, their patron, when he is assigned to Quebec. The year the book opens is 1697. Cecile's mother also moved with them but has died and now 12 year old Cecile keeps house for her papa in the rooms behind the apothecary shop. Cecile loves taking care of her father and the few beautiful things they have brought with them from France. We learn of Cecile's world, her neighbors and the unique character of the city she calls home.
It is weird that Willa Cather was not Catholic because she wrote some beautifully Catholic books. This one rivals Death Comes to the Archbishop in its understanding and deep descriptive language that reveals the spiritual and moral life of devout Catholics. We follow the seasons for that one year from the sailing of the ships to France in the early fall, to their return the next July. Time is marked by the weather and by the liturgical year. First we encounter All Saints Day and then All Souls, St. Nicholas Day, Christmas Eve, Epiphany. We meet Jacques, the young six year old boy who Cecile takes special care of. He is the son of a loose woman and some sailor. We meet Blinker who has a wretched past which he escaped physically when he left France. He now works next door as the baker's assistant but he can not forget the horrors of his past. We meet other various members of the town. Especially we meet the Count himself, and we see the contrast between the two bishops, Bishop Laval and the new Bishop come to replace the old man. Bishop Laval is stern and kind; he lives in poverty so that the people of Quebec can have a glorious cathedral to pray in. The new Bishop (I can't remember his name) is younger and a product of Versailles, much concerned with a showy piety and given to making whimsical and insensitive decisions. We hear about the various martyrs Jogues, Brebeuf and especially about the lesser known Chabenel. We hear a reference to Marguerite Bourgeoys, now a saint. The whole story is just saturated with a Catholic sensibility.
Cather's writing is so good you feel you are there and know all these people. It is a very gentle, quiet book where the lives of regular people, their inners lives, are given their proper attention. Even though it is quiet there are stories of great tragedy and in the background is the unstable relationship between France and England.
Count Frontenac is hoping the king will call him back to France this year and the apothecary and daughter will return with him. But Cecile does not want to leave Quebec, the home she loves so dearly.
There is quite a bit of French sprinkled throughout the story. Becky has a fascination with French, so I think we'd have fun translating those bits. I am definitely going to read it out loud to her.
A lovely, evocative novel that should be on everyone's reading list.
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