A few postings ago, I wrote about books about winter in Canada. Today’s featured book is considered a Canadian classic. It depicts the life of a family of homesteading Mennonites in northern British Columbia. Mary of Mile 18 is set in the remote community of Mile 18, so named because of its location, eighteen miles off of a turn-off on the Alaska Highway. Author Anne Blades worked as a teacher for the children of this community a few years before the book’s publication in 1971. The beginning of the book sets the tone of the story:
It is a cold winter in northern British Columbia. At the Fehr farm snow has covered the ground since early November and it will not melt until May.
Little Mary Fehr is the oldest of five. It is through her eyes that the reader gets a glimpse of the harsh realities of homesteading in such a severe climate. There is no running water nor electricity in the Fehr house. Snow is brought in by pailfuls by the children to be melted for household water needs. The house is heated by a wood-burning stove and a barrel heater; both of which consume a lot of wood and keep the house just barely warm enough. The truck engine must be heated with a propane torch for an hour before it will start.
Despite these conditions, Mary is cheerful and sees beauty in her surroundings. One day she discovers an abandoned half-wolf pup near her house and wants to keep it. Her father however, is stern. “You know the rules. Our animals must work for us or give us food.” Mary is devastated. How could such a pitiful creature prove useful to the household? The rest of the story is about how Mary and her father come to terms about his rules and her desire. And it is the outcome that has made this story the classic that it is.