Roughing it in Fort Edmonton

The Fort
by Christy K. Lee

Toronto: Rising Action Publishing, 2025 
$24.99 / 9781998076413

Reviewed by Ron Verzuh

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Imagine yourself in the deep wilderness of northern Canada in 1806. The Hudson’s Bay Company and the Northwest Company are knee deep in snowdrifts, competing for the pelts of First Nations’ trappers.

Enter Abigail, a British blacksmith’s 26-year-old daughter, accompanied by her mentally ailing father and her six-year-old son Ben. The protagonist of Langley author Christy K. Lee’s sophomore novel has been ostracized as a fallen woman back home after giving birth to the illegitimate child of a British earl.

Those are the bare bones of this story of Abby’s quest for survival and lasting love at Fort Edmonton, site of the present day Albertan capital. En route to the fort, she thwarts a lecherous old preacher, meets a handsome Métis trapper and a jealous military officer, and contends with a gang of thirsty trappers. It sounds like a good recipe for a swashbuckling historical drama and novelist Lee does deliver one.

But there is a catch. Lee’s heroine is an unlikely historical figure given that few white females were part of the fur trade in the far north of Canada in the early 1800s. Still, the Abigail character allows Lee to imagine what life might have been like as she finds herself smack dab in the far reaches of the HBC’s Rupert’s Land. 

Soon she also finds herself being courted by both Métis trapper Gabriel, “his red plaid shirt . . . stretched tight across his burly chest,” and fort policeman Henry, “not the type of man who will tolerate a woman with a sharp tongue.” 

It is possible that some white women lived at fur trade forts at this time, but most of the literature about pioneer women comes much later with classic memoirs from Katherine Parr Traill with The Backwoods of Canada (1836) and Susanna Moodie in Roughing It in the Bush (1852). (The e-version of The Fort that I read didn’t include a reference section, but perhaps Lee’s archival research revealed new information that helped develop character models.)

In fact, women did play a notable role in the Canadian fur trade. It was mostly indigenous women, however, who guided the fur traders and explorers who exploited Canada’s northerner and western regions. Possibly the most underplayed of those women was Charlotte Small, the indigenous wife of explorer David Thompson, the Nor’Wester who followed the Columbia River to its source at about the same time period as the action of the novel. Thompson probably would not have made it without the help of his “country wife” of 60 years. As Canadian Encyclopedia notes, Small “symbolized the vital role women played as partners in the fur trade.”

Other indigenous women also contributed to the success of the fur trade and facilitated the settlement of the West, but white women were much less prominent. The first white woman to land in the region about 1807 was the French Canadian Marie-Anne Lagimodière, grandmother of Metis leader Louis Riel. She and her fur trader husband stayed at Fort Augustus, the Nor ‘Westers’ regional headquarters opposite Fort Edmonton, at the time the novel is set. Is it possible that Lee had Lagimodière in mind as a model for her character Claudette, the older and wiser soulmate of Abby who advises her on love, partnership and survival?

Through Claudette and other female characters Lee offers a tour of fort life, while keeping Abigail centre stage in moving the plot forward. A cougar attacks Abigail’s Métis lover Gabriel. A stash of stolen furs is discovered hidden in Abigail’s lodgings. A lacrosse ball flies off course and hits Abby. Arson destroys the blacksmith’s shop. 

The excitement mounts when Abby and Ben are rescued during a long overland journey to Montreal after they are forced to leave the fort. Protected by Duncan McTavish and his band of voyageurs, she somehow keeps pace as they race against the impending winter. Then, after too much wine, McTavish confides in her that he is in love with a man. She’s not alone in harbouring secrets. She also has a new secret to reveal to Gabriel, who awaits her.

There are more adventures to come, but I’ll leave those to you to discover. Lee (The Roads We Take) is a competent writer. She keeps her sentences short and her characters are credibly described, although I found some of her descriptions florid. Nevertheless, here is a love story in a remote historical setting that leaves us with a sense of the beauty and harshness of Canada’s wilderness landscape.

[Editor’s note: in support of her novel, Christy K. Lee’s BC readings will include July 12 12-3pm Indigo Victoria, July 13 12-4pm Indigo Langley, and July 19 12-3pm Chapters Nanaimo. Check local stores for details.]

Ron Verzuh is a writer and historian. [Editor’s note: Ron has recently reviewed books by Colin Campbell, Megan McDougall, Barbara J. Messamore, ošil (Betty Wilson), Nathan Hellner-Mestelman, Dietrich Kalteis, Graeme Menzies, Ron Base and Prudence Emery, and Geoff Mynett for BCR.]

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The British Columbia Review

Interim Editors, 2023-26: Trevor Marc Hughes (non-fiction), Brett Josef Grubisic (fiction and poetry)
Publisher: Richard Mackie

Formerly The Ormsby Review, The British Columbia Review is an online book review and journal service for BC writers and readers. The Advisory Board now consists of Jean Barman, Wade Davis, Robin Fisher, Barry Gough, Hugh Johnston, Kathy Mezei, Patricia Roy, and Graeme Wynn. Provincial Government Patron (since September 2018): Creative BC. Honorary Patron: Yosef Wosk. Scholarly Patron: SFU Graduate Liberal Studies. The British Columbia Review was founded in 2016 by Richard Mackie and Alan Twigg.

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