The Anemones
The manuscript for the historical novel, The Anemones, is the second book of the Woonsocket trilogy. As a prequel to Woonsocket, the story centers on Louis Breton, the defrocked tramp printer from that novel when he was young and part of a trio of young French Canadians in Paris 1909. Two best friends from college — Grégoire and Louis, who is destined for the priesthood — and Grégoire’s sister Elodie, the woman Louis falls in love with. Their journey begins in the exuberance of la Belle Époque, then struggles through the tragedy of the Great War where, as the chaplain to the 22nd French Canadian Battalion, Louis witnesses the awful death of so many young men. Like all those who survive the mass slaughter, Louis is left scarred by the horrors. In the aftermath of the war, Louis’ story once again intersects with Elodie’s, and eventually with the events, in 1928, of Woonsocket, in Rhode Island.
