Lynn Golding bringing her book to Caledon Public Library

Written By CONSTANCE SCRAFIELD

Coming to the Caledon Public Library, the branch at the Bolton Albion Community Centre, is former Caledon resident and author, Lynn Golding, bringing the second of her trilogy Beneath the Alders. 

This book, The Beleaguered, tells the stories of a family living in Canada, coming from overseas, to live a life full of unknowns. Ms. Golding spent eight years with her great Aunt Jessie, learning the stories that stirred her to write.

She wrote, “The life my great aunt was told she would have—the one where she would go to university and then teach for a couple of years before getting married, having children and leading a life, similar to the one her mother led--that life was not available to her.” Lynne Golding explains. “It wasn't available to her sister Ina, or her cousin Hannah, or to many women of her generation. The Beleaguered tells the story of why that was so; of the sacrifices made by those at home during the war; and the greater sacrifices made by those overseas; and how those sacrifices changed the trajectories of the lives of those who survived.” 

She added, “This [second book] chronicles the devastating effects that the war had on a small town in Canada through the eyes of a young girl coming of age.” 

The Citizen had the chance to speak to Mary Maw, Manager of Communication and Community Development at the Caledon Public Library, about Lynn Golding.

“The books are set in the Cataracts. They are the history on her family in the Forks of the Credit - her maternal grandparents and her aunt Jessie, and their arrival to Canada.” 

Said Ms. Maw, “I went to high school with her at Mayfield Secondary School. [MPP] Sylvia Jones told us about her.”

This goes along with the town's Read Local Caledon, as she told us, “On our Culture Days, we had 12 authors.”

She gave us a brief history of Read Local Caledon, “In October 2012, Caledon Public Library launched our collection to celebrate our community's talented, vibrant, contemporary authors. This initiative provides a platform to make works by local authors, more visible in the catalogue, on our shelves and to enrich our library collections. We have a Read Local Caledon logo, a subject heading in our catalogue, and we showcasing the authors in a special section of our website. Finally, we identify the books with a specially designed spine label and create ongoing displays and events that provide further opportunity for our local authors to become involved and recognized in our community.

“We're very proud of our local authors and we enjoy promoting them.”

The local independent bookstore, Forster's Book Garden, is co-owned and managed with her husband, by Donna Forster. 

We took the opportunity to speak to her about the upcoming event with Lynn Golding and the history of the book shop in Bolton. 

Ms. Forster related' “We've been 20 years in Bolton. We're right down the street from the library, totally independent, me and my husband. We started it because we both love reading and thought there was no shop here. Driving to Orangeville is nice but I didn't want to do it every time. I had a young child and there was nothing much closer.

“So, we went to the book selling club and trade shows. 

“We talked to Nancy Frater [owner of BookLore, in Orangeville]. I told her if this is going to be a problem for you., we won't do it but she said no, it was far enough away. She was a great source of information. We work together sometimes. If there's something I don't have, I look on her website and if she's got it, I call and they hold it for me. And the same thing if she needs something. It's collaborative even if not often. 

“We do many things with the library, like this author that's coming on November 6.”

While Ms. Golding's first book was not well known in Caledon, she is very happy to bringing the second instalment to the library here. An intensely local story of the tough times in the early 1900's here where life was still quite rustic and newcomers to the area were struggling, with the very big differences with what they had left to what they were encountering. That they stayed to tough it out, developing a deep love for Caledon that they passed down to the generations who followed, makes these stories wonderful to read, personal in so many ways. Stories to last a life time.

Lynn Golding will be at the library in the Albion Bolton Community Centre on November 6 at 7:00 p.m., looking forward to meeting as many folk as have an interest in novels of local history.

Said Ms. Maw, “We intend to invite Lynn to be part of our Read Local Caledon.”