Providence

Providence, the first in the McBride Chronicles trilogy, describes the sweeping story of two parallel lives - Jane Hopkins, an orphaned young girl from England and Gideon McBride, the son of a poor fisherman from Scotland - who separately travel to the New World in search of a better life. Their individual stories contain hardship, adventure, intrigue, deception and lies but, above all, a great love as they each find their way to survive in an unforgiving world - Jane through music and a desperate need for the foundations of a happy family life, and Gideon through a desire to escape from a lifestyle he was expected to embrace.The beginning of the McBride family dynasty starts in Victoria, British Columbia's capital city, and is set against a backdrop of the Province's vivid history - from the days of the first gold rush along the mighty Fraser River, the incorporation of Victoria as a city, and a smallpox epidemic that decimated the Indigenous population - to B.C. joining confederation in 1871. This book describes the moral as well as the corrupt days of early colonization. Providence tells a mighty story depicting the strength and determination of early settlers.