The Tale-Teller Author:Susan Glickman A great story transcends the coldest winter. — The year is 1738. Jacques Lafargue, a wide-eyed young Frenchman, arrives in New — France aboard the Saint Michel. But before his Canadian adventure has a chance to — begin, he is detained at Quebec harbour by suspicious port officials. Their distrust — proves warranted: instead of a young man named Jacq... more »ues Lafargue their captive turns
out to be a young woman named Esther Brandeau, and instead of answers to their
questions about who she is and where she came from, they are given tales of castaways
raised by apes, of blind lovelorn sailors and merciless pirates, of runaway slaves and
kindly desert nomads, and of other curiosities in a limitless world.
Few suspect the truth: Esther is a Jew, which by law prohibits her from entering
New France, and she is using her tale-telling to escape the restrictions placed upon
her race and gender. And no one ? not even Esther herself ? realizes the power
her stories have to open their hearts and minds to old dreams and new possibilities.
The Tale-Teller is a marvel. Susan Glickman takes readers on a journey of discovery
? starting with the fascinating true story of an obscure historical figure, and
continuing through an intimate and richly-detailed portrait of Canadian colonial
society, guided always by a map of wonders?to reveal timeless truths.« less