The Span O’ Life

The Span o’ Life is a 1899 historical novel by Jean McIlwraith (1858-1938), the Canadian writer from Hamilton, Ontario, written with William McLennan. Set in the last years of New France, it follows Highland Jacobite exiles and French Canada through the siege of Louisbourg to the fall of Quebec. McIlwraith belonged to the generation that built Canadian historical fiction on Parkman’s histories, and the novel ran serially in Harper’s with period illustrations. Free PDF download available on BDeBooks.