Lily Fairchild is a novel about a remarkable woman, born in the backwoods of Lambton County, Ontario in 1840. Lily’s struggle to survive and grow and discover her place in the scheme of things is complicated not only by the ordinary travail of pioneer living but by the impact of historical events themselves: the railroads and their cutthroat competition, the Riel Rebellions, the First World War and the influenza pandemic of 1918. During her long life Lily witnesses the birth of a nation and the founding and rise of her home village of Point Edward. Lily Fairchild is part history and part fable, replete with historical personages and a bizarre gallery of local characters. It is ultimately a story of survival and loss, about aging and the changes it brings, and about the role of memory itself.
Don Gutteridge is the author of seventy books: poetry, fiction and scholarly works in pedagogical theory and practice. He has published thirty-seven books of poetry and twenty-two novels, including the twelve-volume Marc Edwards mysteries. He is currently Professor Emeritus, the Faculty of Education, Western University. He lives in London, Ontario.
