In 1905, Scottish newcomer Flora Craigie jumps from a moving train to escape her abusive husband. Desperate to disappear, she claims a homestead near Alix, Alberta, determined to start a new life for herself. She finds that her nearest neighbours are also a Welsh widow with three children; two American women raising chickens; and a Métis woman who makes a living by breaking in wild horses.
While battling the harsh environment (and draconian local attitudes toward female farmers), the five women grapple with the differences of their backgrounds and the secrets each struggles to keep. When their homes are threatened with expropriation by the hostile federal Minister of the Interior, the women join forces to “fire the heather,” a Scottish term meaning raising a ruckus. And as the competition for land along the new Canadian Pacific railway line heats up, Flora’s violent husband closes in, and an unscrupulous land agent threatens the lives and livelihoods of the women just as they’re coming into their own.
Finding Flora is set in 1905 northern Alberta, the historical detail is rich and fascinating. Flora is a young Scottish immigrant carrying a secret, while trying to build a new life on the Alberta prairie under circumstances that were anything but simple for a woman of that era. Land ownership came with strict government restrictions, hostile neighbours who were determined to make life difficult and yet Flora remains determined, resilient and watchful.
What she doesn't anticipate are the connections that form around her, the relationships she didn't know she needed.
Elinor Florence has a gift for bringing her stories to life through women who feel utterly real and Finding Flora is no exception. I loved the Canadian historical setting and the things that went into building this great country.
This book was part of my 2026 Reading Off My Shelf Challenge #23
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