Introducing Nancy Taber
A Sea of Spectres
My parents used to send me genealogical information and articles quite frequently, which I must admit I usually ignored. If you’re reading this, Mom and Dad, I’m sorry!
While I appreciated the importance of family stories, I couldn’t quite manage to cram reading them into my schedule: up before 5am to drive my son to rowing practice, where I sat in the car typing away on my university research while the sun slowly rose. Then a rush to doggie daycare, school, and work, a day of meetings and teaching, juggling after-school activities and dinner with my husband, then falling into bed at night, with a glass of wine and bowl of chips if I was lucky.
The Saga of Alexis Doiron
But then my mother sent me an article titled, “The Saga of Alexis Doiron,” about the experiences of my ancestors 11 generations ago during the Acadian Expulsion, when French settlers in what is now Prince Edward Island were forced to leave by British soldiers and sailors, due to the Seven Years War. The accompanying image was of a mother holding a baby. I assumed Alexis was the woman, and started to read, quickly learning that Alexis was the baby, and the article was about him as the patriarch of the Doiron family.
One line caught my attention: “Alexis Doiron soon found a new wife [Madeleine] to help him raise his three children and take care of the household.…in the course of the next 25 years, she would give birth to at least 15 children.” And I thought, that’s all she gets, one line in the article?
I wanted to know more about her life, which became the germ of my idea for A Sea of Spectres, sending me on a nine-year journey to research, write, revise, and publish my debut novel. The novel—inspired by Acadian history and folklore—takes place in three time periods, with a fictionalized version of Madeleine, an 18th century midwife; Celeste, a 19th century bank cleaner accused of a crime; and, Raina, a 21st century police detective. After much reworking, the novel’s logline became: an ocean-phobic detective evades the deadly lure of a phantom ship by delving into her family's history and harnessing her matrilineal powers of premonition.
While most of my writing journey included trips from my computer to the coffee machine to the washroom, it also included a research trip to St. Malo, where the ship Madeleine and her family were transported on arrived in France. And what better way to follow in the steps of your ancestors than to travel with your mother! We spent a whirlwind time in France, which was a bit of a planes-trains-and-automobiles experience, with much dragging of suitcases up and down stairs, bumping over railway tracks, and jouncing over cobblestone streets. My mother held her own, keeping up with me, but there were a few times when I’m sure she seriously considered pitching me and my bright ideas into oncoming traffic. But it was all worth it, once we arrived in St. Malo and settled into a dinner of moules frites, fish stew, and wine—and tea for my mother—ready to explore the walled town.
Tracing Footsteps
We traced Madeleine’s footsteps, walked on the beach where she likely came ashore after a horrific ocean crossing, strolled along the stone ramparts where she may have watched for more ships carrying the Acadians, and toured the church where she and her family likely attended mass. I imagined how her familial line would have continued, through my real ancestors, and my characters of Celeste and Raina, wondering what Madeleine might have been thinking as she gazed across the Atlantic, toward her island home.
A Sea of Spectres is the novel of my heart, connecting Prince Edward Island to France and back again, through the line of Doiron women, from Madeleine, across the generations, to my grandmother, my mother, and me.
Connect with Nancy
Website: https://www.nancytaber.ca
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Nancy Taber is a former Canadian military officer. Part of her job once included leaping out of a helicopter into the ocean. Now, most of her job includes sitting at a computer, drinking massive amounts of coffee, and dropping her characters into wild and sometimes weird circumstances. Currently a professor at Brock University, Nancy has published research on the intersection of gender, war, and militarism in academic books and journals. Her short stories have appeared in journals such as The South Shore Review and Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture and Social Justice, among others. A SEA OF SPECTRES, her debut novel, is published with Acorn Press. Visit her at nancytaber.ca.
Nancy, how you came to write the book sounds as intriguing as the book itself. This former "The Debutante Ball" debut novelist says, best of luck to you in all of your literary endeavors!