This is a very well researched novel by a debut author, about a subject matter that I was unaware of: British women being shipped to British Columbia, Canada to be married off to men seeking wives. Many women actually volunteered to go to achieve new lives. High society couples were on the journey as well, to bring British ways and unite Canada into the British Empire. There was quite a mix on the journey. Having fallen from society through no fault of their own, sisters Charlotte, 21, and Harriett, 25, were forced onto a ship by Harriett's husband to avoid a "scandal" in 1862, The voyage went across the Atlantic, stopping in Bermuda, the Falkin Islands, San Francisco, and before docking in Victoria, B.C. And the storyline then follows the women as they meet their fates. This is a very compelling story and will benefit from some slight editing. The author writes a very informative afterward, not to be missed, and you will enjoy learners no a bit about her, too. Thank you, NetGalley, for my advanced reader copy. I would highly recommend and look forward to more from Leslie Howard in the future.

A sweeping epic of one lady's journey from the ballrooms of England to the wilds of Canada. Leslie Howard has done an amazing job of portraying the life of women in the Victorian period. Charlotte Harding is the younger sister to Harriet and is left penniless after the death of her father. She must rely upon the kindness of her sister and brother-in-law, Charles, to support her. When Charlotte hears of genteel ladies heading to Canada to become brides, circumstances prevail her to go along. Charles insists that Harriet accompany Charlotte on the journey. The story is quite vivid in the telling of the hardships that they encountered on their journey but the story is poignant and inspiring.

Deeply researched and lovingly told, Howard's soft, accessible style frames Charlotte's journey from high Victorian society to a voyage aboard an English "brideship" to begin life in a land equally treacherous and beautiful.


I enjoyed the balance of travails and triumphs, small moments of grace and the embrace of humanity. While never shying away from presenting the limited opportunities afforded women in the 19th Century (often worth more as bartering chips than human beings) Howard still provides readers with a warm, slow-burn romance and a salient treatise on hope and the human spirit.


A note that I am so excited that this publisher is making room for quality Canadian historical fiction. It serves us so well to find voices who open the doors to lesser known parts of our past.


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What attracted me to the book in the first place was its subject matter - I didn’t know that England had shipped women over to BC to be married and I thought it made for a compelling premise, and it does. However, I found most of the characters shallow and unlikeable, including the main character, Charlotte who, despite being 21, conducts and speak as if she were 40.

By focusing on a upper-class woman instead of on a woman of more modest means, I think the author lost a great opportunity to turn her good novel into a great one. Her upper-class characters are villainous to the point of caricature and the various scandals attached to them are rushed and overused. I’d much rather have read an entire novel focusing on Sarah, a secondary character who befriends Charlotte on the way over.

The language is a bit stilted at the beginning, but the flow gets better as the book progresses, but I expect that more editing should take care of that prior to publication.