Welcome to Novel PASTimes! We are pleased you stopped by today.

Tell us something about where you live. 

I’m Sylvie Galant, an Acadian, who lives in the contested territory of Acadie or as the British call it, Nova Scotia, Canada. My homeland is all I’ve ever known and my family owns the hectares of my great-grandfathers, a legacy of farmers, cattlemen, and fishers. With the mountains at our back and the sea before us, we dwell in what visitors say is one of the most beautiful places on earth. 

Is there anything special about your name? Why do you think you were given that name?

I’m named after my great-grandmother, Sylvie, who first came to the shores of Acadie in the early 17^th-century. I’m delighted that my name honors my ancestry and we can keep my family history alive. I hope to name my own daughter Sylvie and, if I have a son, Bleu, after my beloved elder brother. My name is a bit of departure from tradition. Most Acadian women are named Madeleine, Cécile, Françoise, Anne, Jeanne, or Marie after their godparents. Interestingly, when Acadians marry, the women keep their maiden names their whole life long.

Do you have an occupation? What do you like or dislike about your work?

I am a seamstress. My mother always said I have a gift for stitches. My first project was a little sampler which she pronounced nearly flawless when I was only five. I have since sewn the clothing of my immediate family, both men and women, and have even been employed by Fort Beauséjour as a shirtmaker for the soldiers who occupy the garrison there. But my favorite garment to make is a fancy dress. I can usually stitch a detailed gown in ten days. 

I love all the choices of fabric to craft garments. Silks and taffetas and brocades are especially lovely to work yet challenging. I find it very rewarding when someone wears something I’ve made and takes pleasure in it. I dislike having to sew by firelight or low light during the day. It can wreak havoc on your stitches, not to mention your eyesight! 

Who are the special people in your life?

My little sister, Marie-Madeleine is the joy of our lives. She is sunshine to everyone she meets. I adore my older brother, Bleu, who is often away from Acadie working for Hudson’s Bay Company as well as his many other pursuits, some of which shall not be named here. And I cannot forget my other brothers, Pascal and Lucien, who remain at home and help my beloved father and mother with their many tasks.

What is your heart’s deepest desire?

To marry and have a family someday. I have not yet met the man but it is wonderful to imagine him out there, somewhere, prior to our paths intercepting. And I hope to use my gift as a seamstress to benefit others. I do not think of it as merely sewing but creating beauty and adorning whoever wears the garments of my hands and heart. Also, I long to know Christ better and better. To hear “well done, good & faithful servant” when my earthly race is done. 

What are you most afraid of?

Acadie has been fought over by the English and the French for hundreds of years. Both countries want us to take an oath of loyalty but my people remain peaceful and neutral. All we desire is to live in peace but turmoil is all I’ve ever known. I hope never to lose my homeland, the place Acadians have lived for generations. But the fighting continues and might result in something dire. 

Do you have a cherished possession?

That would be my sewing kit. It was given to me by my maternal great-grandmother when I was four years old. She brought it to Acadie from her homeland of Scotland when she was young and left it to me upon her passing. Though it looks quite plain being made of linen, it has all the tools of my trade within – needles, thread, scissors, thimble, and bodkin. 

What do you expect the future will hold for you?

 I sense my future might change violently and quickly based on the escalating war around us. I pray not, but these English who rule over the American colonies and parts of Canada seem to have a voracious appetite for more land no matter who it belongs to. 

What have you learned about yourself in the course of your story?

My story has caused me to examine my own life in a profound way. I now look at how I respond when circumstances are out of my control. What is my reaction to calamity? In what or who do I place my trust? If the worst happens, what do I have left? My priorities are shifting and centering more on my relationship with the Lord because that is the one constant in life. 

Is there anything else you’d like people to know about you?

Though I appear quite serious, far moreso than my younger sister, I experience a great deal of joy in the natural world and plying my needle as a seamstress. I love my family and friends and my faith. I am quite blessed despite my fears and an uncertain future. 

Thanks for allowing us to get know you a little better!

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Laura Frantz is a Christy Award winner and the ECPA bestselling author of fifteen novels, including The Rose and the Thistle, The Frontiersman’s Daughter, Courting Morrow Little, The Lacemaker, and A Heart Adrift. She is the proud mom of an American soldier and a career firefighter. Though she will always call Kentucky
home, Laura lives with her husband in Washington State.

Laura Frantz
www.LauraFrantz.net

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