Shadows on the Rock

by Willa Cather

Book Overview

"Shadows on the Rock" is a historical novel written by the American author Willa Cather. The book was published in 1931 and is set in the 17th century in colonial New France, specifically in Quebec City. The novel focuses on the lives of the early French settlers and the challenges they faced while establishing a life in the rugged wilderness of North America. The central character is C cile Auclair, a young girl who, with her father, makes the difficult...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0CMPNWPM1
• ISBN13: 9791041824151
• Release Date: November 2023
• Publisher: Culturea
• Length: 148 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.8" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Fabulous Story by the Great Willa Cather

This book is like a wonderful trip back in time with endearing characters and the backdrop of old Quebec as it's setting. A central character named "Cecile" introduces us to many interesting people like poor Blinker who is sort of a Hunchback of Notre Dame type but who is really gentle and kind. And then there is Jacques whose mother is sort of the village harlot but he is full of love and wonder and is a great companion for Cecile.This book will inspire you to travel to Quebec City which is one of my favorite places to visit. The architecture, the culture of the French-Canadians is a real delight.

Charming and Moving

I can but echo the other favorable reviews already here: this book is one of the most magical and delightful I know of. The society and civilization of Quebec in 1697 are so remote from our own that this story might as well be classified as fantasy, and it makes us entirely absorbed in the life and times of the people in the city. The story is told in the 3rd person and the central character is Cecile Auclair, a girl of 12, who lives with her widowed father, the town pharmacist. I can well understand why some younger readers do not like it. It does indeed use some "French words," and there is not a lot of "action." Older readers will not mind this.I was given this book in 1967. It was the senior Religion prize at my Jesuit high school. Readers should be aware that some appreciation for the viewpoints and beliefs of the Catholic Church, as it was in 1700, will help in savoring this book.

A magical excursion into a long lost world

Willa Cather was a lapsed Protestant who wrote two of the greatest novels of the twentieth century dealing with Roman Catholic characters: this novel and the even greater DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP. This book is many things at once: a magnificent historical novel, a wonderful depiction of an adolescent growing up, and a wonderful evocation of a world that none of us can visit any longer. I do not know what possessed this midwesterner to write a novel about 17th century Quebec, but I am delighted that she did. I cannot recommend this novel highly enough.

I loved this book! It's my favorite W. Cather book.

Quebec 400 years ago was a small isolated community connected with France by historical tradition and religion. Though new "Kebec" tried to maintain its French continuity, the world was being changed by the freedom of the New World. Willa Cather presents a time capsule of a world gone. Although the story is told in an anecdotal style rather that with a central conflict, it manages to present an unified look of a community. Cather's storytelling is soothing, like a warm cup of hot chocolate on a cold Monday evening. It draws you in and relaxes you after a hard day of work. Incidently I recommended this book to my reading group of ll people and though all enjoyed it, probably only 2 people would have rated it less than 5 stars.

Nostalgia for a past way of life

Auclair, Cecile, Mother Juschereau, Pierre Charron, Jacques, Jeanne Le Ber, Comte de Frontenac, Bishop Lacal-- Just to say these names is akin to the satisfaction one experiences crunching a potato chip or savoring a delectable morsel of chocolate. There is a connection here between the written word and one's senses that is rarely found these days and when one does find it one desires to cherish the moment. Reading Cather makes me wistful for the past. I want to see the rock of Quebec. I want to live in a town that is flanked by wilderness where the only connection to "civilized" Europe is by the arrival and departure of massive sailing ships. I also want to believe as the people in the novel believe, in the mystic wonders of a religion that extols the virtues of deceased missionaries and cloistered hermitess'. In short Cather has convinced me to travel-- back in time if I could-- to see what Cecile and Auclair see or even what Cather herself saw that so moved her to write such a beautiful history. I only wish I could read more. Each character she introduces could be the protagonist of their own novel. A wonderful, simple, novel that makes you want to get up off your seat and go!