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The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor
The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor | Sally Armstrong
10 posts | 4 read | 6 to read
Charlotte Taylor lived in the front row of history. In 1775, at the young age of twenty, she fled her English country house and boarded a ship to Jamaica with her lover, the familys black butler. Soon after reaching shore, Charlottes lover died of yellow fever, leaving her alone and pregnant in Jamaica. In the sixty-six years that followed, she would find refuge with the Mikmaq of what is present-day New Brunswick, have three husbands, nine more children and a lifelong relationship with an aboriginal man. Using a seamless blend of fact and fiction, Charlotte Taylor's great-great-great-granddaughter, Sally Armstrong, reclaims the life of a dauntless and unusual woman and delivers living history with all the drama and sweep of a novel. Excerpt from from The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor: Every summer of my youth, we would travel from the family cottage at Youghall Beach to visit my mothers extended clan in Tabusintac near the Miramichi River. And at every gathering, just as much as there would be chickens to chase and newly cut hay to leap in, so there would be an ample serving of stories about Charlotte Taylor. . . She was a woman with a past. The potboilers about her ran like serials from summer to summer, at weddings and funerals and whenever the clan came together. She wasnt exactly presented as a gentlewoman, although it was said that she came from an aristocratic family in England. Nor was there much that seemed genteel about the person they always referred to as old Charlotte. Words like lover and land grabber drifted down from the supper table to where we kids sat on the floor. There were whoops of laughter at her indiscretions, followed by sideways glances at us. But for all the stories passed around, it was clear the family still had a powerful respect for a woman long dead. We owed our very existence to her, and the anecdotes the older generation told suggested that their own fortitude and guile were family traits passed down from the ancestral matriarch. For as long as I can remember, Ive tried to imagine the real life Charlotte Taylor lived and, more, how she ever survived. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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review
emilycoc
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Pickpick

What a great piece of history! It took me a lot longer than anticipated to read because life happens, but it was so fun to read a book set in my home province. 😊

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emilycoc
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It's been a minute since I've picked this book up! It's been a weird summer/fall for me, and I've struggled to get back into reading. Proud to say I actually allowed myself the time to sit down and read both a chapter of this and a textbook. I'll be back into it all soon!

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emilycoc
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Guys! This book appears to be set in my home province! How cool is that?! #whatiread #maritimes #newbrunswick

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emilycoc
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My next read - back to operation declutter! This book has been on my shelf for YEARS, but I don't remember ever having read it. The spine and cover are both very smooth too, as though it's never been opened (pictured here). Very excited to get into this! #booknineof2020

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Kelican17
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Pickpick

Finished a few days ago but forgot to post. Great book, and right up my alley. Strong pioneering woman bucks the system to start a new life in a new place with no choice but to survive. 💪🏻👩🏻💚 Loved it, going on the bookshelf. Thanks again @TheKidUpstairs #litseypenpals

TheKidUpstairs I'm so glad you liked it! 6y
Wife Need to borrow. 🌹 6y
Kelican17 @Wife 👍🏻 6y
16 likes3 comments
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Kelican17
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A fun surprise from my #LitsyPenPal! It arrived just in the nick of time. I had just finished a book and couldn‘t decide what to read next! Thank you, @TheKidUpstairs !!! I am looking forward to reading it! 🤗🤩😄📬📚👍🏻💚

tpixie Sounds great!! 6y
14 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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DebbieGrillo
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1. Dear God It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume was the first book that I chose completely independently. It made me feel like a true reader.
2. Charlotte Taylor
3. Disregard for the environment.
4. @ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled

#TuesdayTidbits @JenlovesJT47

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DebbieGrillo
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1. A Discovery of Witches - Rare Steak & Red wine
2. The Pillars of the Earth - Venison & aged Cider
3. The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor - Smoked Salmon & Birch Tea
4. Reconstructing Amelia - Coffee & Toast with Jam
5. Rising Strong - Green Tea & spinach salad with berries and goat cheese

@JoeStalksBeck

JoeStalksBeck These are amazing!!! 7y
[DELETED] 3803335244 These are great! This is a hard one 😬 7y
70 likes2 comments
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quirkyreader
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This is what The Kiwanis Club had on sale. There booth is located in the basement of the former Dancers Fashions in Mason, Michigan. The build has now become The Maple Street Antiques Market.

Riveted_Reader_Melissa That makes me wish I was closer so I could visit! 8y
ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled My hands are tingling with want to paw through these books!! 8y
21 likes2 comments
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DebbieGrillo
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I love this simile: "Charlotte often thought of the burnished seduction of late fall as a whispering lover who proposed a few more hours together before he was gone forever." (234)

1 like1 stack add