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novelesque_life's review against another edition
4.0
I come across a graphic novel entitled, Roughing it in the Bush, and wondered if it was based on Susanna Moodie‘s novel by the same name. Yes, it is, but the story is also adapted by Carol Shield (who wrote her thesis on RIITB)! And, Margaret Atwood wrote the forward (who also wrote her thesis on RIITB, and wrote a poetry collection on Susanna Moodie)! Sold! I would really like to thank Second Story Press in making sure I was able to read this book. After a few technical issues in downloading the eBook, they generously sent me a finished copy in the mail.
Last Fall I read Charlotte Gray’s biography on Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill which renewed my interest in the sisters and their writing. (My Review of Sisters in the Wilderness). I have still not read anything by the sisters (but they are definitely on the TBR list) but I have to say I am thinking reading RIITB this summer.
SUSANNA MOODIE: ROUGHING IT IN THE BUSH
Written by Carol Shields and Patrick Crowe
Adapted by Willow Dawson; Illustrated by Selena Goulding; Forward by Margaret Atwood
2016; Second Story Press (152 Pages)
Genre: graphic novels, biography, historical, canada, pioneer, women
RATING: ★★★★
Susanna Moodie was born in England, the youngest daughter of the Strickland family but first to marry. Susanna met and married John Moodie, a retired officer from the Napoleonic War, in 1831 and then emigrated to Canada in 1832. She was excited about her new adventure but soon found that the land agents lied about the conditions and what they would own. As things seem to get worse her depression increases and her writing takes a back seat. Her sister, Catharine who married John's friend, Thomas Traill also came to Canada but wrote a positive review of Canada in her new book. Susanna angry at this dishonest portrayal decides to write her own book based on her journals.
Like Margaret Atwood said in the forward, having Roughing it in the Bush turned into a graphic novel will spread Moodie's work to other audiences. This is a great introduction for those who are daunted by Moodie's book, and also great for younger audiences. It gives the biography of Moodie, how this book came to be and the book itself.
I loved Selena Goulding's illustrations in this book and will look for more of her works. I liked how Willow Dawson adapted Carol Shields, Patrick Crowe and Susanna Moodie's words. It is a quick and easy read but you come away with Canadian history and an yen to start "researching" on Wikipedia. As a Canadian woman I am very happy to see a brilliant and courageous woman starring in her own graphic novel. I recommend this book to everyone! (I hope many Canadian schools will have a copy in their library!)
***I received an eARC from NETGALLEY and PUBLISHER provided physical book***
My Novelesque Blog
Last Fall I read Charlotte Gray’s biography on Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill which renewed my interest in the sisters and their writing. (My Review of Sisters in the Wilderness). I have still not read anything by the sisters (but they are definitely on the TBR list) but I have to say I am thinking reading RIITB this summer.
SUSANNA MOODIE: ROUGHING IT IN THE BUSH
Written by Carol Shields and Patrick Crowe
Adapted by Willow Dawson; Illustrated by Selena Goulding; Forward by Margaret Atwood
2016; Second Story Press (152 Pages)
Genre: graphic novels, biography, historical, canada, pioneer, women
RATING: ★★★★
Susanna Moodie was born in England, the youngest daughter of the Strickland family but first to marry. Susanna met and married John Moodie, a retired officer from the Napoleonic War, in 1831 and then emigrated to Canada in 1832. She was excited about her new adventure but soon found that the land agents lied about the conditions and what they would own. As things seem to get worse her depression increases and her writing takes a back seat. Her sister, Catharine who married John's friend, Thomas Traill also came to Canada but wrote a positive review of Canada in her new book. Susanna angry at this dishonest portrayal decides to write her own book based on her journals.
Like Margaret Atwood said in the forward, having Roughing it in the Bush turned into a graphic novel will spread Moodie's work to other audiences. This is a great introduction for those who are daunted by Moodie's book, and also great for younger audiences. It gives the biography of Moodie, how this book came to be and the book itself.
I loved Selena Goulding's illustrations in this book and will look for more of her works. I liked how Willow Dawson adapted Carol Shields, Patrick Crowe and Susanna Moodie's words. It is a quick and easy read but you come away with Canadian history and an yen to start "researching" on Wikipedia. As a Canadian woman I am very happy to see a brilliant and courageous woman starring in her own graphic novel. I recommend this book to everyone! (I hope many Canadian schools will have a copy in their library!)
***I received an eARC from NETGALLEY and PUBLISHER provided physical book***
My Novelesque Blog
ljrinaldi's review against another edition
4.0
I will start by saying that I have never heard of Susanna Moodie, but then I have not read nearly enough Canadian history. This shows me that I really should. I saw that Margaret Atwood had written the introduction, but I decided I needed no introduction, so plunged right into it.
Going in cold, without any background of Canadian history made this all the more intriguing. Susanna was born an aristocrat in the early part of the 19th century, int he UK. When her father dies, she has no money for a dowery, so must find a suiter who does not care about such things.. She, like most of the upper class, was not taught to take care of herself, or any domestic duties. She wanted to write, and did so. She ends up marrying a retired military officer, but finds that his pay will not support her, so decide to move to Canada, because it is cheaper there. She and her husband are not told that they are really moving into the wilderness, and they will have to do everything early settlers have to do for themselves.
And example of the protagonist at the beginning of the story.
And how she looks after she have moved to the "bush", and lived there for a while:
This reminds me a little bit of The First Four Years, but Laura Engles Wilder, but Laura grew up in the wilderness, and did know how to do things, like milk cows, and bake bread. Susanna had no clue how to cook, or do any of these things. And she has to learn, and learn quickly. She does make friends with the local First Nation people, as well as a man of color, who sells her a cow, so she can have milk.
Life is not easy, but Susanna goes into it determined, and it is an interesting transformation. The story follows her life from when she is a young woman to when she is an elderly woman. Through it all she has a sense of humor, and strives on.
Apparently, according to the prolog of the book, this was originally going to be a movie, but it never got made. And once I read that, and saw Margaret Atwood mentioned again, I decided to read the introduction, and learned how important Susanna Moodie was to Margaret, and why she wrote a poem about her, and how others have brought her up in their works.
I really enjoyed reading this. It makes me want to read the original book. It makes me want to read more about Canadian History. It makes me realize how ignorant I am of women writers in the 19th century.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Canadian History, interested in Women's history, interested in writings about what it was really like to live in the bush.
My only problem with this book, and the reason it does not get the final star is that the illustrations sometimes go "off-model" and look wrong, or the poses would look ackward. It is a minor thing, but bugged me.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
Going in cold, without any background of Canadian history made this all the more intriguing. Susanna was born an aristocrat in the early part of the 19th century, int he UK. When her father dies, she has no money for a dowery, so must find a suiter who does not care about such things.. She, like most of the upper class, was not taught to take care of herself, or any domestic duties. She wanted to write, and did so. She ends up marrying a retired military officer, but finds that his pay will not support her, so decide to move to Canada, because it is cheaper there. She and her husband are not told that they are really moving into the wilderness, and they will have to do everything early settlers have to do for themselves.
And example of the protagonist at the beginning of the story.
And how she looks after she have moved to the "bush", and lived there for a while:
This reminds me a little bit of The First Four Years, but Laura Engles Wilder, but Laura grew up in the wilderness, and did know how to do things, like milk cows, and bake bread. Susanna had no clue how to cook, or do any of these things. And she has to learn, and learn quickly. She does make friends with the local First Nation people, as well as a man of color, who sells her a cow, so she can have milk.
Life is not easy, but Susanna goes into it determined, and it is an interesting transformation. The story follows her life from when she is a young woman to when she is an elderly woman. Through it all she has a sense of humor, and strives on.
Apparently, according to the prolog of the book, this was originally going to be a movie, but it never got made. And once I read that, and saw Margaret Atwood mentioned again, I decided to read the introduction, and learned how important Susanna Moodie was to Margaret, and why she wrote a poem about her, and how others have brought her up in their works.
I really enjoyed reading this. It makes me want to read the original book. It makes me want to read more about Canadian History. It makes me realize how ignorant I am of women writers in the 19th century.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Canadian History, interested in Women's history, interested in writings about what it was really like to live in the bush.
My only problem with this book, and the reason it does not get the final star is that the illustrations sometimes go "off-model" and look wrong, or the poses would look ackward. It is a minor thing, but bugged me.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
grauspitz's review against another edition
4.0
A really good introduction to Susanna Moodie for those who find the original novel to be intimidating.
Or if you're like me, a quick introduction as this came in from the library before the original did. And while I can't see myself reading this again, I still think it's very important to have accessible classics, especially Canadian classics that might not otherwise be read.
Or if you're like me, a quick introduction as this came in from the library before the original did. And while I can't see myself reading this again, I still think it's very important to have accessible classics, especially Canadian classics that might not otherwise be read.
erine's review against another edition
4.0
This cross between Jane Austen and Laura Ingalls Wilder makes for another fascinating woman. I would be keenly interested to read Susanna Moodie's actual work.
chessakat's review
5.0
I loved this! I had never heard of Susanna Moodie before coming across this book in the NetGalley bookshelves for Comics & Graphic Novels - but I'm so glad I found her! This is a fascinating slice of life on a subject I know literally nothing about - the settling of Canada. Susanna grew up fairly well-off in England, but by the time her and her many sisters were of age, their wealth had declined to the point that all the sisters took to writing for a living. After meeting her future husband at a party, they decide their best course of action was to go abroad and settle in Canada. But they were led to believe the land they were moving to was *much* further along in its settlement. This is the story of coming to terms with reality crashing headlong into mistaken expectations.
It is extremely well done. The art really lends itself to revealing the emotions - the loneliness, despair, exhaustion from hard labor - so much is conveyed in one panel. Even though there are many grim moments in the story, you still come away with a sense that this was a woman with a lot of pluck - she put one foot in front of the other and got what needed doing DONE and kept her family alive despite all odds.
I'm feeling particularly grateful for my warm house with food in the pantry after reading this bite of graphic history.
Recommended highly to anyone who enjoys a story of a woman with grit, who is curious about settling the Canadian "bush" in the early 1800s, or who just enjoys history via graphic novel.
It is extremely well done. The art really lends itself to revealing the emotions - the loneliness, despair, exhaustion from hard labor - so much is conveyed in one panel. Even though there are many grim moments in the story, you still come away with a sense that this was a woman with a lot of pluck - she put one foot in front of the other and got what needed doing DONE and kept her family alive despite all odds.
I'm feeling particularly grateful for my warm house with food in the pantry after reading this bite of graphic history.
Recommended highly to anyone who enjoys a story of a woman with grit, who is curious about settling the Canadian "bush" in the early 1800s, or who just enjoys history via graphic novel.
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