Roughing it in the Bush
Or, Life in Canada

A key work of Canadian literature, this unsentimental account of immigrant life remains a major influence on the country's writers.

Susanna Moodie (Author)

9781108033619, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 3 November 2011

320 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.8 cm, 0.41 kg

First published in 1852, and in its third edition by 1854, this description of pioneer immigrant life in Canada by Susanna Moodie (1803–85) is unsentimental and frank. In contrast to similar works, which often seem to be advertisements aimed at potential immigrants, Moodie's book emphasises not only the triumphs but also the tribulations as she and her family begin their new lives. Initially criticised in Canada for painting an unflattering picture of the country, it was later recognised as a key work of early Canadian literature, and has influenced writers up to the present day. The family left England reluctantly, as Moodie (née Strickland) makes clear in the introduction to Volume 1. She chronicles their early struggles and describes the characters of the people they encounter, particularly their troublesome 'Yankee' neighbours. Writing with honesty, clarity, humour and a journalistic immediacy, she provides a fascinating insight into the country's infancy.

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Introduction
1. Canada
2. A visit to Grosse Island
3. Quebec
4. Our journey up the country
5. Tom Wilson's emigration
6. Our first settlement, and the borrowing system
7. Old Satan and Tom Wilson's nose
8. Uncle Joe and his family
9. John Monaghan
10. Phoebe H. and our second moving
11. Brian, the still hunter
12. The Charivari
13. The village hotel
14. The land-jobber.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]