Lesia’s Dream. Laura Langston. Toronto, ON: HarperCollins, 2003. 208 pp., pbk., $15.99. ISBN 0-00-639283-0. Subject Heading: Ukranians-Canada-Juvenile fiction. Grades 6 and up / Ages 11 and up. Review by Joan Marshall. *** /4 Reviewed from advance reading copy.

excerpt:

It was a good size. More than enough to feed five.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she bent down. The nearby grass was splattered with droplets of blood. More blood pooled on the ground under the bird’s neck, and blood trickled through the feathers of the bird’s wing like beet juice staining a piece of bread. Lesia reached out. The bird twitched and flopped. Horrified, she jumped back. Of course it was moving. That happened after birds were slaughtered. Frowning at her foolishness, she forced her hand forward. There was its head, off to the side. And its eyes watching her. Don’t look. She lifted it by its feet. They were slick. Warm. More blood drained to the ground. Lesia swayed. She would not be sick. She took a deep steadying breath. You must do this.

In the spring of 1914, 15 year old Lesia and her older brother, Ivan, convince their parents to emigrate from the Ukraine (at that time part of Austria) to Manitoba, Canada, where the family pays $10.00 for 160 acres of scrub woodland which they struggle to tame into rich farmland. The family dream is nearly shattered when Ivan and his father are interned as “enemy aliens” because Canada has gone to war against Austria. With the help of sympathetic neighbours, Lesia manages to clear the necessary 10 acres, help her mother to birth her new little brother and enterprisingly sell woven belts, eggs and butter to avoid her father’s fierce determination not to borrow money. Although one new neighbour, vain and spoiled Minnie, is vicious to Lesia, and strangers often reject the “bohunks” out of hand, other Ukrainian farmers are more than generous. Gradually Lesia falls in love with Andrew Korol, who, at 20, is already a widower. Although, to survive, Lesia must pawn her hand carved family treasure box and the family Bible, Andrew redeems them for her. The novel is structured with Lesia’s telling her story in 2003 to her great granddaughter, her namesake. The first and last few pages are in italics as Lesia speaks to her great granddaughter. The rest of the novel is told in dated chapters from March, 1914, to May, 1915.

     The novel is true to history with Ivan’s socialist, union activities, the imprisonment of enemy aliens and the pioneer struggles with sod huts, extreme weather and government bureaucracy. At the same time, it is a compelling story of the horrors faced by a particular immigrant family who quickly become endeared to the reader. Lesia is a determined, strong girl whose courage in the face of physical danger and emotional agony is inspiring. She is the catalyst that pushes her father to immigrate to Canada. She performs backbreaking work and holds the whole family together with her ingenuity and force of will. She grows to accept help and to deflect Minnie’s anger into co operation. Andrew is another character whose compassion and persistence drive the plot. Lesia’s mother’s gritty determination (she gives birth in the garden rather than wake her young daughter) and her father’s excitement over the “free” land both add rich texture to this family saga. Ivan’s euphoria over freedom of speech and his consequent union activities glow in his teenage eyes. Lesia’s family repeats the theme of the novel like a mantra: work hard as bees do, let your effort be true and the rewards will be great. The family’s story, though, incorporates much hardship caused by outside influences over which they have no control: natural (weather), political (the war) and social (working as peasants in the Ukraine). In fact, the family’s success lies in both Lesia’s fierce determination and her willingness to try new approaches to problems rather than simple hard work and acceptance of the status quo. A more subtle theme (not yet learned by the majority of Canadians) is that we must all accept the willing help of others to succeed personally and to build a stronger community.

Recommended.

Joan Marshall is the teacher librarian at Fort Richmond Collegiate in Winnipeg, MB.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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