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Title details for The Orenda by Joseph Boyden - Available

The Orenda

by Joseph Boyden
Ali Ahn
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
History reveals itself when, in the seventeenth century, a Jesuit missionary ventures into the Canadian wilderness in search of converts-the defining moment of first contact between radically different worlds. What unfolds over the next several years is truly epic, constantly illuminating and surprising, sometimes comic, always entrancing and ultimately all too human in its tragic grandeur. Christophe has been in the New World only a year when his native guides abandon him to flee their Iroquois pursuers. A Huron warrior and elder named Bird soon takes him prisoner, along with a young Iroquois girl, Snow Falls, whose family he has just killed, and holds them captive in his massive village. Champlain's Iron People have only recently begun trading with the Huron, who mistrust them as well as this Crow who has now trespassed onto their land; and her people, of course, have become the Huron's greatest enemy. Putting both to death would resolve the issue, but Bird sees Christophe as a potential envoy to those in New France, and Snow Falls as a replacement for his two daughters who were murdered by the Iroquois. The relationships between these three are reshaped again and again as life comes at them relentlessly: a dangerous trading mission, friendly exchanges with allied tribes, shocking victories and defeats in battle, and sicknesses the likes of which no one has ever witnessed. The Orenda traces a story of blood and hope, suspicion and trust, hatred and love, that comes to a head when Jesuit and Huron join together against the stupendous wrath of the Iroquois, when everything that any of them has ever known or believed faces nothing less than annihilation. A saga nearly four hundred years old, it is also timeless and eternal.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 1, 2014

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781490612898
      • File size: 507419 KB
      • Duration: 17:37:07

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from October 21, 2013
      Epic in scope, exquisite in execution, Boydenâs spellbinding third novel tells the story of the French conquest of Canada from the point of view of both the conquerors and the conquered. Boyden, winner of the 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize for Through Black Spruce, here divides his story between three narrators, two of them aboriginal, the third a French Jesuit missionary based loosely on Jean de Brebeuf, recognized as a saint following his martyrdom at the hands of the Iroquois. Set in the early 1600s, as the French were exploring todayâs Canadian province of Ontario, Boydenâs narrative depicts in compelling detail how the French exploited ancient enmities between the Iroquois and Huron tribes to speed their conquest of New France. The novel abounds in riveting battle scenes and stomach-turning physical torture, but it shines most brightly in quieter passages that root the reader firmly in daily life in a tribal village where the spectre of famine and enemy attack compete with rich family life and a powerful spiritual attachment to the land. This is a long novel, and some readers may balk at the graphic torture sequences, but those who stay the course will be rewarded with a fascinating glimpse of what it felt like to live at the sharp end of the spear of European conquest. Agent: Eric Simonoff

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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