fiction

Q&A with Beverley Boissery, author of Sophie’s Exile, Part 1

Tell us about your book.
Sophie’s Exile continues the story of Sophie Mallory and her friend, Luc Moriset. When Sophie’s father and Luc’s brother are both sent to Australia for being part of the 1837-38 rebellion, Sophie, Luc and their guardian follow them.  Although it is a prison for Sophie’s Papa and Luc’s brother Marc, Sydney dazzles them in many ways. They love the wildlife—the colorful parrots, and kangaroos, of course. They love being able to sail and canoe all year. Gradually, they make friends with Polly and Billy Hendricks, and in doing so, experience some of the danger that was part of Sydney in the convict days. Once Polly and Sophie are kidnapped by two escaped convicts, Sophie must find a way to rescue them before Polly dies. When she does so, she has gone from being a scared girl who relied first on Lady Theo, her guardian, and then on Luc, to someone who could work out solutions to her own problems and have her own adventures.

How did you come up with the idea for this work?
Sophie’s Exile is based on history. Fifty-eight men were sent to Sydney (and close to eighty more sent to Tasmania) once the rebels in Ontario and Quebec were defeated. A few were innocent, just like Sophie’s Papa. This is told in my earlier non-fiction book, A Deep Sense of Wrong. In Sophie’s Exile, Sophie’s father is based on Benjamin Mott from Vermont, U.S.A., and Luc’s brother was inspired by Léon Ducharme from Montreal.

How did you come up with the title?
It had to form part of the trilogy’s sequence or pattern: Sophie’s Rebellion; Sophie’s Treason. Hence, Sophie’s Whatever. Exile seemed the best of all the possible choices.

Tell us a little about the overarching theme of your work, and why you felt compelled to explore it.
(i) The 1837-38 rebellions are fascinating and should be much more widely known, because there are so many riveting stories. In the rebellions, everyday people fought against the best army in the world at the time. Something had to be terribly wrong to make them do it. History books, particularly textbooks, usually drone on about the political wrongs and politicians, such as William Lyon Mackenzie and Louis Papineau. I am more fascinated by the stories of ordinary people caught up in this terrible situation.
(ii) Besides, introducing readers to this snippet of history, The Sophie Mallory trilogy also deals with love, adventures and the sense of home. Sophie learns that home is where the people she loves lives. It isn’t a certain house, in a certain place. It isn’t even in a certain country.
(iii) In the three books, Sophie learns to trust and rely on herself.

How did you research your book?
The research for this book was enormous, and piggybacked from my Deep Sense of Wrong. I personally went nine archives in Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Canberra (Australia), and Sydney to discover the actual documentation of the rebels I write about in the novel. This is one time the internet couldn’t do it, partly because so little has really been written on the aftermath of the rebellion.
I researched details about the men who were punished for the rebellions. (The politicians, as usual, got off scot-free!) Therefore, I had to dig hard in the archives, and I found some extraordinary things: For example, once the Quebec rebels arrived in Sydney, they were given thorough physical examinations, and these were recorded. The descriptions of each man went far beyond height and weight. They recorded scars, and even tattoos. The average man sent to Sydney was a farmer, he couldn’t read or write, was a little taller than five foot three, had at least one tattoo and, at least, three missing teeth. He had dark hair, brown eyes, was married, with more than five children. He had no previous trouble with the law, and people in his community liked him.

What was the creative process like for you?
The first book in the trilogy (Sophie’s Rebellion) was relatively easy to write. I was learning the craft of writing YA fiction, and was excited by telling the story to a new audience. I liked my main character Sophie straightaway. On the other hand, Sophie’s Treason was some of the most difficult work I’ve ever done. When I was imagining scenes in it, I never saw them in colour. They were always black and white. Many things that happened after the rebels were defeated were terribly grim, and that’s probably the reason why I saw everything in black and white.
Sophie’s Exile was fun to write. I kept imagining the blue skies and golden sand of Sydney. Some of the book is set where I grew up, and I wanted to be out on the water, paddling my canoe, or sailing my boat, as much as Sophie. Writing it was as complete a contrast to Sophie’s Treason as you can find in the creative process.

What was the hardest part of writing your book?
The middle.

What inspired you to write your first book in this series?
I wanted people to know more about one of the most exciting events ever in Canadian history.  More than that, I wanted to write something that would be fun to read. Books were so important to me when I was young, because they could transform my world. I wouldn’t wish my early days on anyone. I read anywhere and everywhere I could in special hiding places. Books helped me imagine a different world than the one I lived in. I didn’t want to read about my reality. I wanted books which would lift my spirits and help me dream of a better place to be. That’s what I found in the books of Clare Mallory (my favorite author), and her characters became my best friends.  I hope that if anyone is close to the situation I had when I was young, that Sophie and Luc, and now Chloe and Thad, will become both their friends and inspiration. I would also hope that the trilogy will stand the test of time, and that those who read the books today, will enjoy them when they as older as well.

© 2009 Defining Canada.