‘Chris in the Wilderness’ by George Frederick Clarke launched at Connell House
A lost literary treasure was the focus of a book launch held Sept. 4 at Woodstock’s historic Connell House.
‘Chris in the Wilderness’ is a novel for young adults, was penned by 20th-century author and late Woodstock resident Dr. George Frederick Clarke, but was never published.
Clarke was a lifelong resident of Carleton County and a childhood friend of Tappan Adney. Born in 1883, he started writing at an early age. He went to dental college in Philadelphia, where he met his wife, Mary. The two married and returned to Woodstock, where he set up his practice on Main Street. After retiring, Clarke wrote several books, including The True Story of the Expulsion of the Acadians and Someone Before Us: Our Maritime Indians.
Woodstock-based publisher Chapel Street Editions (CSE) partnered with the Carleton County Historical Society. Mary Bernard was the book’s editor.
“My grandfather, GFC, had his first two books published 100 years ago,” Bernard explained. “One of them, ‘Chris in Canada’, was very popular and remained in print for over 30 years. Four years later, he wrote a sequel, ‘Chris in the Wilderness’, but it was never published in his lifetime. He died in 1974.”
Bernard said the missing manuscript came to light after a dramatic series of events.
“In 2002, there was an electrical fire in the attic of GFC’s house here on Main Street,” she recalled. “The attic was structurally unsafe. The house was sold in 2007, and before it changed hands, my uncle defied orders to stay out of the attic. He risked his life and picked up all the papers that were up there. I flew over from England and looked through them. It was filthy work; so much soot!”
Bernard discovered poems, articles, essays, and letters, as well as several early novels her grandfather had written, including ‘Chris in the Wilderness’.
For her, the novel’s importance centres on one of the characters, a Wolastoqiyik Elder who was her grandfather’s friend and mentor in real life until Clarke passed away.
“Noel Polchies is the real subject of my talk. He isn’t the main character, but it feels like he is. This book is GFC’s tribute to Noel Polchies.”
The main character, Chris, learns the ways of the New Brunswick wilderness when he accompanies Polchies on a winter trapping expedition in the great woods of central New Brunswick. The novel includes information about Polchies that Bernard believes is authentic, including details of handmade snowshoes, trapping, and stories that he tells from his own youth.
At the book launch, Bernard’s husband, Ian Fleming, read a scene in which Polchies tries to outrun another Wolastoqiyik man while on a trip to the Crown land office in Fredericton about a trapping permit.
Fleming noted that the novel’s cover illustration is a painting by Tappan Adney, who was a contemporary and friend of Clarke’s.
During the question and answer period after the reading, several members of the more than 40 people gathered for the launch said they had connections with George Frederick Clarke’s books. Questions and comments about themes explored in ‘Chris in the Wilderness’ included colonial use of the province’s natural resources.
CSE publisher and managing editor Keith Helmuth noted that Clarke loved where he lived and wanted to write about what he loved.
For more information on Chapel Street Edition’s George Frederick Clarke Project, visit chapelstreeteditions.com.
