Phantom Ships

Ronald Charles Epstein is a Toronto-based freelance writer and published poet.

Phantom Ships is the product of American/Acadian cross-fertilization.
The American literary icon Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the epic
poem Evangeline: A Tale of Acadia. His description of the British
army’s expulsion of the Maritimes’ francophone inhabitants has
inspired New Brunswick psychologist Claude Le Bouthillier to dramatize
that subject. Since Acadian “literature ... rarely touched on
historical fiction,” he recalls the final decades of French rule
through characters based on his own ancestors.

Susan Ouriou’s translation from the original French does not conceal
the fact that this book’s target audience is French Canadian. A
footnote points out a novel “published by Stanké,” but does not
warn readers that it is a francophone press. Shifting narrative threads
may confuse francophone readers, but might not upset Acadian readers who
seek cultural affirmation.

They will not be disappointed. Le Bouthillier’s Acadia is a
prosperous farming/fishing community where settlers live in peaceful
interdependence with the Mi’kmaq First Nations. The British soldiers
are this tale’s most obvious villains, but there are also
authoritarian Quebec priests, corrupt French officials, and decadent
Parisian courtiers. Such characters have not prevented one
French-language Montreal press from publishing the original or another
from offering this translation.

The editing will disappoint readers. When Joseph, a major protagonist,
visits Quebec City to trade, he meets “an Acadian refugee from
Port-Royal, Michel Bourgeois.” He is referred to as “Boureois” on
the next page. That character complains that “Bigot and his band of
rogues have seen no change in their lifestyle.” “Lifestyles” are
for contemporary celebrities, not 18th-century colonial crooks.

This book is recommended for historically minded Acadians, curious
Québécois, and other readers with a strong taste for epic adventure.