Annie Howells and Achille Fréchette

Post-Confederation Ottawa sets the scene for this fascinating biography of a literary couple. The marriage of Annie Howells and Achille Fréchette in 1877 brought together two literary families and two cultural traditions. Annie was the daughter of the US consul in Quebec, William Cooper Howells, and sister of the American novelist William Dean Howells. Achille, a translator for the Canadian House of Commons, was the brother of the French-Canadian poet Louis Fréchette. Both Annie and Achille...