A Happy and Prosperous New Year

I would like to wish a Happy and Prosperous New Year to all for 2011!

The weather on the Gold Coast of Australia has been extremely hot and humid over these past few months of summer.

  There has also been Cyclone Yasi in Northern Queensland and a major flood in Brisbane earlier
in the year.

  I am reminded of a beautiful poem by Dorothea Mackellar who wrote "My Country" which seems to sum up best the inspiring love people have for their country of Australia.  Dorothea Mackellar wrote this poem at a time when she was in England:

http://www.dorotheamackellar.com.au/

This link gives details of the poet's life.

A verse of the poem "My country" appeared on the front page of the Gold Coast Bulletin earlier
in the year after the damaging floods of Queensland.

Best wishes

Angelique and the Demon by Sergeanne Golon

Angelique and the Demon by Sergeanne Golon

Once again the writers of the magnificent series of

Angelique books which follows

the romance and adventures of Angelique and her

husband, Joffrey de Peyrac,

in the New World create magic.

“Angelique and the Demon”

leaves me spellbound and in awe of great story-telling,

with the wonderful prose and descriptions of the beauty

of the scenery of the coastal regions, the Gulf of St Lawrence

and Arcadia (the Coast of Maine.) There is an old map on

the inside covers of the book

which details the settings in the story.

The magnificent artistic drawing of Angelique and Joffrey de Peyrac

with a sailing ship in full sail in the background is illustrated on

the front cover of the book.

The colourful characters, the reality and sometimes

unreality of a situation were so well described which gave

an air of credibility and reality to the unusual set of

circumstances which Angelique found herself to be in.

Herein lies a talent of seeing things so clearly and

of expressing thoughts, ideas and philosophies of life

so succinctly on the written page.

The mystical enchantment of Angelique as the Lady of

the Silver Lake seems to evoke memories of Camelot,

as perhaps the town of Goldsboro, may very well

have been similar to Camelot,

where Joffrey de Peyrac was founding a settlement

on the shores of Maine.

Angelique and her husband, Joffrey de Peyrac, had

broadened their horizons by escaping the narrow

confines of the life of Versailles and all which life in the Old World

signified for new beginnings in the New World, and were therefore

more ready to accept new customs and ideas which may have been

anathema in the Old World.

At the same time the harshness of life in the new land

and its many travails gave them

a strength and courage to define life as it really is and also gave them

inner strength to surmount all obstacles placed in their path.

There were traces of humour to be found in the book,

as after a serious discussion of demonology with

the Governor,

Angelique enquired innocently of the Governor,

“Were they both going mad?”

It was fortunate that Angelique did have loyal friendships

which proved to be invaluable in times of need and self

doubt. Self doubt at times even as regards the beauty of her love and strong bond

she shared with Joffrey de Peyrac.

There certainly were demons in the novel, but not so much to the extent that Angelique

and her friends would allow themselves to be thwarted by them. As in a scene

where a new arrival to a settlement along the coast, Tidmagouche, in which Angelique and her few friends were stranded, makes light of the situation by saying that there are no demons which cannot be overcome or put in their place. She draws attention to her children within the context of the demons, which is

also highly amusing, to say the least! This being

when the new arrival, Marceline-la-Belle, was informed by the governor that she should not have arrived because of the demons.

This incident was also amusing, as again the extraordinary circumstances of Angelique's

situation seemed to be overwhelming and threatening her very existence and also of the

few people who remained loyal towards her while living in an atmosphere of hostility.

During these pioneering days of early settlement there were narrow minded people

who could easily be persuaded by superstition and perhaps also fear. Angelique had

to show courage above all in such situations.

Angelique, who had encountered Madame de Montespan and the intrigues of

the Court of Versailles,

some of the worst elements of society in her earlier days, was

now confronted by a menace of evil which was hitherto unknown to her

and she herself even acknowledged at one point in the story to herself

that she may have allowed her own self guard to

lapse in the very different circumstances which she now

found herself in living in the New World with her husband.

A Duchess from France, a governor, Monsieur Ville d'Avray,

with the gift of the gab, who was also extremely

humorous at times and the different personalities and quirks of the characters ( Marceline-

la-Belle was renowned for her ability to open shell-fish in record time) certainly

do make this story compelling to read.

Angelique befriends interesting

and fascinating people from different backgrounds and religions. She also

inspires loyalty and true friendship with characters of the novel. There

certainly is depth in many of the characters whom Angelique interacts

with in her life and in the story,

(as for example a

Jesuit Priest who had rescued her from drowning in the ocean in the preceding novel

of the Angelique series,

“The Temptation of Angelique.”)

Angelique also inspires people with

her wisdom and zest for life.

A tame bear (Mr Willoughby) who performs tricks,

a kitten and a wolverine give warmth, charm and pleasure. Another facet

which gives interesting scope

to this novel which is set in this wild landscape of forest, hills, rivers and ocean.

With a mix of ship-wreckers, sailors, pirates, cod-fishermen from France,

early settlers, trappers and the king's girls

(who were being sent from France to Quebec to populate New France), people with different

ideas and also with the indigenous Indians in the novel, who were often portrayed in a sensitive fashion, I found “Angelique and the Demon” to be

educational, informative and entertaining. The book also includes notations of actual events which occurred in history during these unsettled times.

Anne Golon has recently been honoured in France at an awards ceremony last

year for literature. The Angelique books have been translated into many different

languages and there may be another film of Angelique to look forward to.