Book Review of
Finding Flora

Lynn's Review

Finding Flora by Elinor Florence is a historical fiction book set in 1905, Alberta, Canada.

I love reading books set in Canada, so when I saw that this book was about settlers in western Canada, I knew I wanted to read it. 

Finding Flora is about Flora Craigie, who married a stranger in order to leave Scotland and make a new life for herself. Instead of marrying the nice man she thought he was, she married an abusive husband, who lied to her. Her life in Canada was going to be nothing like she had thought it would be. 

She jumps from a train to escape her husband, but going back to Scotland is not an option. She has no life there. She must make a life for herself on a western Canadian homestead. 

Flora is an independent and brave,  however, unmarried women homesteaders were not a common thing in 1905. They were looked down upon. So Flora was surprised to learn that three of her closest neighbors were women. 

A widow with three children, two American women who raise chickens, and a Metis woman. 

In a rough and challenging environment, these women banded together to survive the harsh climate and circumstances. 

It showed the reality of both married and unmarried women homesteading in the West in the early 1900s. Since it was set in Canada, though, it was different from many other American frontier books that I have read. 

Finding Flora by Elinor Florence is about survival, friendship, hardship, community, and more. 

This book was a four-star read for me. I enjoyed it. If you enjoy historical fiction and are looking for something a bit different from a book set in the United States, I think you’ll enjoy this one.