LULING, La., March 21, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- In the face of tragedy, the will to survive remains man's most powerful bulwark against devastation-a fact the Acadians understood. With their expulsion and diaspora from Nova Scotia by the British, they had a long and arduous journey. Tossed to the winds like seeds of grass, they finally took root settling and finding peace and prosperity in the rich alluvial lands of South Louisiana. In A.K. Keller's engaging new book, Belle Terre Acadie, follow their journey in history through one family's unforgettable story of triumph over adversity.
In 1758, they were captured on Ile Saint-Jean when the last remaining French stronghold at Fortresse de Louisbourg fell. With friends from Cobiquid, they were exiled to St. Malo, France.
Etienne's two small children died at sea, but his wife died in France. He mourned all the deaths in France and he eventually remarried there. By the benevolence of Spain, he voyaged to Louisiana with his second family in 1785. In Louisiana, they reclaimed paradise in Nouvelle Acadie or New Acadia where he was given provisions to begin this new life. He was successful in his strip farm and, in succeeding generations, his descendants became prosperous as their holdings grew with the planting of sugar cane and rice, cattle ranching, and the coming of the oil industry in the twentieth century. They were now called Cadiens or Cajuns.
Belle Terre Acadie is a moving story of how the people known as Cajuns became a living monument to human fortitude and the will for survival. From their ancestors through the centuries echoes the cry, N'oubliez pas! We do not forget! On a closer look, it is an enduring tale of one family who struggled uphill at a time when life was all but a downhill spiral.
About the Author
During The Gulf War, Anna Renee Kadakova Keller organized a military support group with a friend and appealed to the local American Legion Post and American Red Cross Unit for sponsorship. Her work and leadership in this endeavor, with all her volunteer staff, moved the St. Charles Parish Council to name the group as its official military support group, and the American Red Cross and the United States Army to include it in their Pentagon list of official American military support groups for The Gulf War. By proclamation of the governor of Louisiana, the group's rally following the war was proclaimed as the official Louisiana Red, White, and Blue Day. Keller was also recognized by the Louisiana Army National Guard as "The Mother of All Soldiers." She now lives quietly with her husband in Louisiana.
Belle Terre Acadie * By A.K. Keller
The Story of One Family of the Acadian Diaspora
Publication Date: March 7, 2005
Trade Paperback; $20.99; 174 pages; 1-4134-7106-4
Cloth Hardback; $30.99; 174 pages; 1-4134-7107-2
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