When Alice Lay Down With Peter by: Sweatman, Margaret
hardcover | 457 pages | ISBN:0-676-97315-9
Year Published:2001 – Alfred A. Knopf Canada | Tidewater Price:$34.95
Spanning the period from the 1860′s to the 1970′s, When Alice Lay Down With Peter is an ambitious family epic that takes place on the flood plain of southern Manitoba. Alice follows Peter to the New World in the 1860′s, where they join Louis Riel’s rebellion against the Canadian acquisition of Manitoba. While not Metis themselves, they sympathize with the native’s cause. Preferring the company of rebels, they will live their lives outside of conventional society.
Their daughter Blondie, conceived in a storm of lightning and hail, is the narrator of the novel. Living to the age of 109, her tale encompasses four generations, three wars, two rebellions and countless insurrections. Married to a buffalo-hunter turned singing- cowboy, theirs is an eccentric story of one family’s struggles and triumphs.
Their daughter Helen will survive the sinking of the Titanic, marry into one of Winnipeg’s wealthiest families, then give it all up to disguise herself as a man and fight fascism in Spain during the World War Two. The novel continues with the life of her daughter Dianna and ends with the birth of Dianna’s daughter.
Margaret Sweatman has penned a remarkable tale that is compelling and vivid. Her writing is lyrical, evocative and yet humourous. When Alice Lay Down With Peter is an extraordinary novel of Canadian history, and Margaret Sweatman is a truly gifted author.