As a Canadian immigrant genuinely interested in his adoptive country culture and history, I find The Orenda (see it on Amazon.ca The Orenda
An epic worthy of Herodotus or Sima Qian, and by its ardour and high seriousness The Orenda declares it an equal to any ancient Greek or Chinese account of empires rising and falling… (THE GLOBE AND MAIL)
The story (taking place in late 1600s in Ontario along the Lake Huron and Ottawa river shores) is captivating, the book is meticulously researched while its author Joseph Boyden is an award winning Canadian of Irish, Scottish and Anishinaabe heritage (Joseph Boyden on Amazon.ca
The story told in The Orenda is one that does not get told often enough. And even then, not by an author who can paint a picture of the times and people of 17th century Huronia and New France so vividly.
Right on, Matthew. Your blog’s review of the book is helpful while not spoiling the lecture: I recommend it. https://matthewrettino.wordpress.com/2014/05/23/the-orenda-by-joseph-boyden/