A delightful story based on an historical incident in early 18th century New France (Quebec).

A young man travels to the New World aboard a ship where he entrances listener's with his stories and makes himself well-liked by everyone for his interest in their lives and experiences. On his arrival, he is discovered to be a disguised girl, Esther, who is immediately arrested and housed in the home of one of the town officials while an inquiry is made in France. During the year that follows, as her fate continues to be uncertain, she spends time in several homes and for a while in a nunnery, after it is discovered that she is Jewish and will be expelled for that reason alone unless she converts. But this is not why she came to New France, where she was hoping to find a measure of liberation from sexually-determined fate, anti-Jewish hate, and an enforced marriage. Throughout the year she enchants her listeners with her tales, giving many of them hope for themselves and a new perspective on the strictures society has placed on them.

While Esther's fate provides the suspense, her anecdotes, whether real or imagined, are where the real interest lies. There is even some question for the charmed reader about whether she might possibly be telling her own history, as outlandish as it is. The characters are well-drawn but don't enchant the reader nearly as much as those tales Esther weaves. ( )