The inspiration behind the bestselling novel, Wildwood.

Release Date: April 2026
Instant #1 Bestseller
Published by Simon & Schuster Canada
Trade Paperback, E-Book, and Audiobook
399 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1668227626

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Discussion Guide

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Synopsis

Broke and desperate, single mother Molly Bannister of Phoenix, Arizona, accepts the condition laid down in her great-aunt’s will: to spend one year in an abandoned farmhouse deep in the remote backwoods of northern Alberta. If she does, she can sell the farm and fund her four-year-old daughter Bridget’s badly needed medical treatments.

With grim determination, Molly teaches herself the basic pioneer skills, chopping firewood and washing her clothes with melted snow. But her greatest perils come from the brutal wilderness itself, from blizzards to grizzly bears. The journal written by her great-aunt, the original homesteader, inspires her to struggle on.

Praise for Wildwood

“Molly’s experience of her great-aunt’s way of life is so vividly described that readers will appreciate the strength and courage of past generations and feel grateful for the safeties and conveniences of modern life. The book will have particular appeal to readers interested in early-20th-century social history.”

— Publishers Weekly

“Reads like a love letter — from a mother to her daughter, from a Canadian to her land, from an author to her ancestors. In Molly Bannister, Elinor Florence has created a modern day Susanna Moodie roughing it in the Northern Alberta bush. The result is riveting, packed full of all the best stuff — peril, mystery, wisdom, laughs, and love.”

— Angie Abdou, author of In Case I Go

“The description of the settings — the house, the land, the cold, the wild, the forests and animals are astounding and certainly gives the reader a sense of place. The characters just came alive on the pages and there is so much growth in the characters of Molly, Bridget and Wynona.”

— Red Deer Advocate

“What a glorious novel! With flawed and relatable characters, gorgeous description, and a loving but realistic look at a difficult lifestyle, Wildwood satisfies on every level. Through Molly’s modern eyes, we see the fortitude of pioneers in a refreshing way — and see our comfortable and rushed lives in a new way as well. Uplifting and thought-provoking, this is a novel to savor.”

— Sarah Sundin, author of The Sea Before Us and the Waves of Freedom series

My Inspiration

Since one of the characters in Wildwood is a four-year-old girl, it seemed appropriate that the book should be introduced by my two adorable granddaughters, Nora and Juliet.

This is an old photograph of a foursquare farmhouse in Oyen, Alberta, an original catalogue house from the T. Eaton Company, used as the model for my farmhouse in Wildwood.

This authentic foursquare home is a historic site in Peace River, Alberta. It was built in 1916 for the Commanding Officer of the Royal North West Mounted Police.

This farmhouse in Oyen, Alberta has some wonderful period features, such as stained glass kitchen cabinets.

My heroine Molly uses a Belleek tea set bearing the classic shamrock motif that her great-aunt brought from Ireland.

Molly finds a copy of the original 1913 Five Roses Cook Book, and learns to bake in a wood oven, just like her great-aunt did.

When Molly inherits the old farmhouse, she finds a journal written by the original homesteader, her great-aunt Mary Margaret. This image reminds me of the young bride.

One pipe leading to the well under the house, and one pump over the kitchen sink that produces ice-cold water — that’s what my heroine has in the way of plumbing.

This biffy reminds me of my childhood farm in Saskatchewan, which didn’t have indoor plumbing installed until I was fourteen years old!

The local indigenous population knew that mukluks kept their feet warm in winter. My Métis great-grandmother wore mukluks like this beautifully-decorated pair.

This old cookstove still sits in the house where I grew up, on a grain farm outside North Battleford, Saskatchewan. In Wildwood, Molly has to cook on a stove just like this one.

The combination of golden fields, dark boreal forest, and blue skies makes for an incredible landscape in northern Alberta. I took this photo not far from Grand Prairie.