The Fort - by Christy K Lee (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

For fans of Genevieve Graham, The Fort transports readers to the rugged Canadian fur trade era, where a resilient single mother defies conventions to forge a new life on the frontier.

It's the height of the fur trade in Canada, and Abigail Williams leaves her home in England and travels deep within the rugged wilderness to escape her scandalous past. With her young son in tow, Abby imagines a life on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River, in the rugged but beautiful Fort Edmonton, where she can mend horseshoes in her father's blacksmith shop and her past will not be a hindrance to her happiness.

Life has other plans. The interest of Henry, an officer at the fort, and Gabriel, a French trapper, are not what she expected. While she wrestles with what future either man can give her, her past comes to haunt her, and she and her son must flee with a ragtag group of voyageurs to Montreal. The winter journey is fraught with dangers, from raging rivers to the chaos that is Lake Superior. But Abby is determined to create a new life for herself, whatever the barriers.

The Fort features the iconic Hudson's Bay Company and rival North West Company, English-French tensions, a heartfelt love story, LGBTQ+ representation, and impeccably-researched historical detail.

Review Quotes

"In the impeccably researched THE FORT, author Christy K. Lee takes on the fur trade in early 19th century Canada as Englishwoman Abby Williams crosses the ocean from England with a secret, vowing to protect both her ailing father and her young son, Ben. As she settles into her new life in a fur-trading fort, a love triangle threatens to turn deadly and Abby must risk losing everything in order to survive. With a firm nod to the indigenous people who lived on the land and were a vital part of the fur trade, THE FORT is a compelling story of finding love and family where you least expect it, set to the well-drawn backdrop of the vast Canadian wilderness as winter closes in."--New York Times bestselling author Kristin Harmel