Elizabeth Wilder-The Spruce Gum Box

One of the joys and unexpected pleasures of self publishing is meeting fellow authors. We don't for the most part meet face to face but we do get to know each other, in some cases better than if we'd met at a gathering or party.

For me, one of these special people is Elizabeth Wilder, author of The Spruce Gum Box. 

Elizabeth writes about the Mi'kmaq and the Penobscot as I do, but from a totally different perspective. She writes in the years of the pioneers when the lumber trade was in its infancy and about how it affected the native people of the time. She emphasizes the generosity of a people, not only to their own but to everyone they met. 

My grandfather used to whittle and carve as did Jed in this novel. The spruce gum box was new for me, but it did make sense that there would be such a box. Abtatuk and Panonias in my story, Mi'kmaq  Song use spruce gum to survive when the are captured. 

I liked Elizabeth's portrayal of the Maine woods, much like the scenes  from my own story years earlier. I could almost smell the spruce, the pines, the cedars and the campfires as I read this very entertaining and informative story.

A coinsidance that I liked her story so much ? Probably not, we both write about the Mi'kmaq but in different eras. Other coincidences ...it would appear that we are in the same age group; Elizabeth paints watercolors, so do  I ; she worked as a teacher, surprise, surprise, I did too. Of course, The Spruce Gum Box is a beautifully crafted story, the kind that lingers a long time after you've read it, a keeper kind of story, that you want to revisit time and again.

I haven't met Elizabeth, but feel that should we meet we would find we have much more in common. 

Elizabeth writes a blog and I find her ideas and stories refreshing. The posts contain nuggets of wisdom which stay with you, much like the characters who appear in her novel, The Spruce Gum Box. 

It's a pleasure knowing you, Elizabeth, let's keep in touch.

Pat Cher 

Author Mi'kmaq Song