The Spruce Gum Box By Elizabeth E Wilder

The Spruce Gum Box is a historical fiction novel based on the nearly unheard of Aroostook War that took place between Great Britain and the United States in northern Maine in the mid 1800's.

Red Dobie (June 30, 2010)
978-0981595443
278 pages

A Family Forged by Adversity. A Community United by Dreams.

Addie loved to run along the river's edge so the wind could blow through her long hair, released from the strict bun her father demanded. When Jed returned from the lumber harvest in the spring, she would fly into his arms, releasing her pent-up passion from its winter prison. Little did they know their forbidden love would set in motion a series of events that would forever change their lives and make Jed a fugitive.

With a bounty on his head and his infant son hidden beneath his coat, Jed turned to the only man he felt he could trust-the leader of a nearby Micmac Indian settlement. The unlikely partnership that ensued defied all odds, overcoming bigotry, betrayal, and the unforgiving 1820s Maine wilderness, to stake a claim on the primitive New England landscape.

As the strife escalated between Great Britain and the United States over the border of Maine and the rights to its lucrative lumber industry, determination to survive and create a life for his young son drove Jed into uncharted territory and perilous adventure.

Elizabeth Egerton Wilder's debut novel, The Spruce Gum Box, a novel of historical fiction, began with her fascination with Maine's Aroostook River and its early pioneers, and evolved over several years through research and daydreaming. While she mused, characters and story lines began to flourish and take on lives of their own. As she puts it, "I knew how the story would start and how it would end, but had no idea what would happen in between."

Throughout the process, the author drew upon stories and people from her childhood, research on her husband's family in northern Maine along with her varied background in a number of artistic endeavors. She has a BA in Art and Education and has worked as a teacher, designer, colorist, small business owner, photographer and artist. She is also a published poet and believes that bits and pieces of it all, combined with raising her family and her innate appreciation of nature, were all the ingredients needed to fulfill her lifelong goal of writing a book. At seventy-two years young, she achieved her goal and is working on a sequel.

Native of New England, Elizabeth (Betty) now lives in Eastern PA with Cal, her husband of over 51 years, and her cat Smokey.

In the authors own words:

The Spruce Gum Box is based on the nearly unheard of Aroostook War that took place between Great Britain and the United States in northern Maine in the mid 1800's. I first heard of this when we went to visit the Wilder Museum in Washburn, Maine. My husband's family had been part of the early 'pioneers' to move up the Aroostook River to establish the town near where his great-great uncle built the first saw mill in the area. We were told how the town was incorporated by the settlers and some Canadian families that already lived along the river. I asked where the Canadians came from and why were they there. No one could answer and that led to the five years of research that fills my novel.

http://www.independentauthornetwork.com/elizabeth-wilder.html

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