From the author of the bestselling Jalna series.

Shaw Manifold is a born forester, of hardy stock. A fatherless boy of nine, he was brought up in the rugged environment of his grandfather’s farm, a lonely youngster in the midst of callous elders. His only ally was his mother, Cristabel, whose work removed her to a distant city. Mother and son lived for their reunions: their private world was a tortured and nostalgic place, but its love braced Shaw against the exhaustion of overwork and the interminable feud with his grandparents from which he escaped to his school of forestry and the Canadian woods.

Then at the outset of a brilliant career he found he had overreached his strength. In sickbed and sanatoriums he began to fight the greatest battle of his life.

With his courage and endurance, Shaw tells of his relationship with his mother, of his defiance of the Gowers, of his love for Elspeth Blair, and of the expeditions that led to his greatest challenge yet.

Mazo de la Roche, in 1927, was an impoverished writer in Toronto when she won a $10,000 prize from The Atlantic Monthly for her novel Jalna. The book became an immediate bestseller and was eventually adapted for stage, screen, and television. Known for creating unforgettable characters that come to life for her readers, Mazo de la Roche is truly an icon of Canadian literature.

In 1927, Mazo de la Roche was an impoverished writer in Toronto when she won a $10,000 prize from the American magazine Atlantic Monthly for her novel Jalna. The book became an immediate bestseller. In 1929, the sequel Whiteoaks also went to the top of bestseller lists. Mazo went on to publish 16 novels in the popular series about a Canadian family named Whiteoak, living in a house called Jalna. Her success allowed her to travel the world and to live in a mansion near Windsor Castle. Mazo created unforgettable characters who come to life for her readers, but she was secretive about her own life and tried to escape the public attention her fame brought.

Mazo de la Roche's profile page