Montlivet

"Montlivet" by Alice Prescott Smith is a historical adventure about a French trader named Armand de Montlivet making his way through the tough world of colonial North America in the 1600s. The story follows Montlivet as he starts a beaver-trapping expedition and runs into La Mothe-Cadillac, the local leader, unveiling conflicts between the French, the Ottawas, and the threatening Iroquois. The book deals with conflict, who people truly are, and staying alive, all while showing the beautiful but risky wilderness where Montlivet interacts with different Native cultures and how they team up with European settlers. Secrets and possible double-crosses come up, mainly involving an English prisoner named Benjamin Starling, setting the scene for a story full of mystery, personal competition, and the big effects of colonialism, as characters struggle with who they support and what might happen to them.