Trappings by Vanessa Winn

For fans of historical fiction and/or Canadian history, Trappings is a book based on real people and events in mid-nineteenth-century British Columbia. What’s more, it offers a woman’s view of politics and life during this time.

Winn’s passion for her subject shows in the historical details. Trappings tells a personal story of a woman and her family against the laws, customs, and events of the time; the smallpox epidemic of 1862, the gold rush of 1858, the San Francisco earthquake of 1868, Queen Victoria’s birthday celebrations (including a blindfolded wheelbarrow race and a greased-pole event), the birth of the Dominion of Canada, and the recent history of several First Nations communities (from which Kate’s own family was partly descended). You will also learn interesting tidbits about Point Ellice House, the Hudson’s Bay Company, the Vancouver Coal Mining Company, Emily Carr, and Sir Joseph Bazalgette – creator of London’s sewer system in the time of the “the Great Stink” and the cousin of Captain George Bazalgette who was a good friend of Kate (Work) Wallace and Charles Wallace. Some people really got around back then. You might be surprised by the connections you discover.

Amid the recovery from recession, an underlying note of alarm sounded through the murky city in late September. Another wave of disease was suddenly carrying off the Indians. Mr. Sebright Green was calling for their protection, and Kate appreciated him a little more. The general dread of small pox was countered by the opinions of some medical gentlemen that it was a different malady altogether. Regardless, the physicians in town were kept busy vaccinating the citizens.

You don’t have to be a history buff to enjoy this book – not if you enjoy stories about women; women helping other women, women helping themselves in a world full of men’s laws.

Kate Work is one of the daughters of John Work, Chief Factor of the Hudson’s Bay Fur Trading Company. “A fur trader might provide his daughter with the trappings of success, but even a Chief Factor could not free her from wedlock, once caught in the matrimonial snare.” Although several of Kate’s sisters, ahead of her, had secured successful (and even happy) marriages, Kate herself hadn’t been so fortunate. She was happy at first, but it wasn’t long before she began to doubt her husband’s devotion, as well as his business savvy and ability to take care of Kate’s inheritance from her father; something that meant a great deal to her: “She shook her head in small, jerky movements, with the awful realization that, indeed, the house was never really hers...” In addition, Kate and Charles had lost three of their four children.

Kate’s husband, Charles Wentworth Wallace, was born into a prominent family from Halifax, Nova Scotia. They moved West after a scandal involving his father, in the hopes of starting over; Kate only just learned about this during the public debacle of their own financial troubles.

Having believed Confederation might strengthen Charles’ ties to Nova Scotia, she was puzzled by his position against it. He was churlish in his response to her careful questions. If he regretted his inability to run himself, he did not admit it to her. Politics were simply not the dominion of a lady.
“You had better keep your attention, Kate, where it is needed, to your family here. There is plenty to attend to under your own roof.”
She bit her tongue, as to the roof, which was decidedly not her own. Nor his, she might have added.

Kate was trapped. With her failing health, she had to think of her remaining daughter, Eliza, who legally belonged to Charles. How to ensure a future for Eliza that included all the love and warmth Kate experienced as a child?

Trappings is the kind of book that pulls you in slowly but surely. If the historical customs and events don’t suck you in, the warmth of Kate’s large family is sure to. And if you’re like me, you’ll be googling them all to find out what became of their descendants. We need more stories like this; ones that give life to little-known, overlooked women of the past.

You can order Trappings online here, or ask for it at your local bookstore.

Vanessa Winn’s debut novel, The Chief Factor’s Daughter, was longlisted for the ReLit Awards and runner up for Monday Magazine‘s “Favourite Fiction” award in 2010. As a manuscript, it won a Heritage Group prize for new voices in Western Canadian history and culture. The book has been studied in BC universities and colleges. Vanessa’s non-fiction and poetry have appeared in several magazines and journals. In 2020, she released another historical novel, Trappings. A story of first love, second chances, and family secrets, it’s set in Victoria during the collapse of the Cariboo gold rush. This novel was a course textbook for a Public History graduate seminar at the University of Victoria and features Point Ellice House, a National and Provincial Historic Site.

She has a Bachelor of Arts with a major in English from the University of Victoria and edits and proofreads for other writers. Beyond her love of the written word and historical research, she finds inspiration in music and dance and teaches Argentine tango. Born in England, Vanessa has lived in Victoria, BC, for much of her life.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oakheart Press (July 7 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 408 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1777040809
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1777040802

Naomi MacKinnon

Website

Naomi MacKinnon is a mother, daughter, wife, sister, friend, pet-lover, reader, walker, camper, and Nova Scotian. Naomi has contributed several guest reviews over the years to The Miramichi Reader. Her book review blog is Consumed By Ink.

You can order Trappings online here, or ask for it at your local bookstore.

Naomi MacKinnon

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