Where Fact Meets Fiction

Explore the local connections in a newly-released novel. Finding Home follows the lives of two young people in early Canada. Sarah, orphaned by cholera in 1869 London, desperately seeks family. Richard, the disgraced son of an Ontario sawmill owner, must redeem himself in his father’s eyes then chart his own course. The journeys are brought together by a group of Home Children­­–– poor youth from England’s slums, sent to Canada as cheap farm labour or domestic help. Finding Home pulls back the curtain on many issues of the time: class differences, Protestant/Catholic friction, homophobia, racism and the treatment of child immigrants.

Time: 1pm

Cost: $3/person

For ages 13+ No pre-registration is required. 

Author Bio:

Laurie Ness Gordon lives on a waterfront property north of Kingston. She has worked as an educator, consultant, workshop presenter and writer. Her articles and short stories have appeared in newspapers and magazines in Canada and England. In 2014, Borealis Press published her debut novel, The Medal. Laurie spent several years as a volunteer project manager for a touring art exhibition and is currently supporting refugee families from Syria and Somalia. She enjoys music, travelling, swimming, shovelling snow and being “productive”. Her favourite holiday memory is a 5-week motorcycle trip across Canada.