Old River dreams now a reality
- Details
- Published on Sunday, May 8, 2016
By Sheila Runions
Banner Staff
When Eleanor Bertin (daughter of George and Anne Krahn) was 11 years old she thought of writing a book. The idea struck her while at her home on the farm 2.5 miles east of Rivers. Life happened and now, 45 years later, that book has been published; it became available last month. When Eleanor came home for a visit in mid-April, she left some copies with her mother. You may contact Anne (204-328-7529) to purchase one or order from www.eleanorbertinauthor.com, Amazon, Chapters/Indigo, most major Christian bookstores across Canada or as an e-book on Kindle.
Lifelines was shortlisted in the 2015 Word Alive Press Free Publishing Contest. The 264 page paperback is more than double the length of Eleanor’s childhood dream. A Nov. 13, 2015 post on her blog titled How to Write a Novel in a Gazillion Easy Steps reads, “I’d wanted to write a book since 1971 when I optimistically numbered a stack of pages 1–100. I filled seven of those pages.” She goes on to explain the outline Lifelines as “What if…” That’s the question, that’s the gleam in the eye of a writer when they begin a novel. “What if renowned atheist Richard Dawkins lived next door to my mother?” That was the question that popped into my mind as I read a book the summer of 2009. I wrote a page and a half of what I thought would be a short story and left it. Ideas kept coming, however.
“What if the atheist professor had a shameful secret in his past? What kind of influence does one solitary, loving, consistent Christian have in this world? What is the value of human life, especially when that life has some disability? Other story threads began to weave themselves into a plot that expanded beyond short story length: a teacher in a crisis pregnancy, a character patterned after my own son with Down Syndrome.
“Now here it was in my mind — a novel! All I had to do was write it down. How hard could it be? I’d read books that left me thinking, “I could do better than that.” On my way to publishing this book, I learned a few things: Novels are much harder to write than you think! The book you read in a couple of days, the writer has sweated over for years, composing, revising, dreaming about, rearranging, proofreading, editing. Truth is stranger than fiction; real life people are so interesting and many-faceted that no author could make them up. A patient, encouraging husband is a wonderful thing. He was the one who heard my wails of despair when the word count seemed too small, and cries of joy when it grew by leaps and bounds.”
Word Alive promotes the book this way: Life had been going swimmingly for biologist, Dr. Robert Fielding, until he was bewildered by a squall that still threatens to shipwreck him. Searching for a way to recover from his past, he believes the quiet isolation of a new neighbourhood will be perfect. However, he’s not expecting his neighbour’s incessant invitations for dinner and her son’s innocent questions that start to erode his beliefs. Try as he might, he’s captivated by Anna’s warm personality and home baking, which begin to give him the comfort he’s been searching for. But how is he supposed to turn down fresh cinnamon buns? Anna's example of loving integrity keeps him coming back. Or maybe it's her homemade pies. Others in the neighbourhood, too, are under Anna’s thrall – a teacher facing a crisis pregnancy, a crusty cat-lady, a cancer-ridden conspiracy theorist, a Cambodian immigrant family. Each is touched by the power of her obscure and ordinary life, lived biblically.
The character of Anna’s mentally disabled son is based on Eleanor’s youngest child while Anna’s character was inspired by her own mother.
Word Alive endorsement comments from judges, another author and a pastor’s wife include the following statements: “Eleanor Bertin has a head for research and a heart for fiction.” “This is an extremely relevant and highly original novel.” “This is a fresh and well-articulated piece of work.” “The book is well-crafted, with dynamic, real characters, who aptly handle the controversial subject matter. Superb author voice pulls the reader in.” “A captivating read! Lifelines steps boldly into the unexpected perplexity of real life.”
Eleanor worked in agriculture journalism until the birth of her first child. The family grew to include one daughter and six sons whom she home schooled for 25 years. She, her husband and son live in central Alberta. Eleanor left the family farm in 1977 when she moved to Caronport High School to take her Grade 12; Grades 1-11 were in Rivers. While this book is finally finished, she already has plans for two more novels, one about another son who was killed in a hit and run in 2012 at age 18.
