The Iron Promise
May 05th, 2018
Many of the characters in Steve Hunter’s first novel, The Cameron Ridge Conspiracy, set in the 1860s, reappear in his third novel, The Iron Promise (Riverside Press $22.95). It begins in the winter of 1870 when smallpox has decimated a Secwepemc camp. The only surviors are a young Secwepemc woman, Rose Wilson, with her infant daughter, Olivia. Assuming she, too, will succumb, Rose begs two strangers passing by on the road to take her daughter, to save her life, and they consent to take the child. A day later Rider Valcourt, Olivia’s father, finds Rose and takes her to the family ranch near Lillooet where she recovers. They make an “iron promise” to find their child. The story has dual narratives; one from the parents steadfastly searching for their child and one outlining the experiences of child who has lost her identity, her family and her culture. The Iron Promise takes the reader from the Cariboo across a new, young country, coast to coast, recounting courageous love and longing, commitment and the willfulness to never give up hope. Born in 1953, Steven Hunter of Big Lake in the Cariboo has been a columnist for BC Outdoors magazine. 978-0-9917071-3-3
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