Horse Lake Chronicles

Memories of a northern childhood. Aldred Neufeldt grew up in the small Mennonite community of Horse Lake, northern Saskatchewan, in the 1940s—a place considered by everyone else to be “the boonies” and a time when the devastating effects of the Great Depression were still being felt. Though times may have been tough, it was a childhood of wonder and discovery, nurtured by energetic and resourceful parents who expressed their Christian faith and community values through deeds more than words. <br><br>Neufeldt recounts what it was like to live in the log house built by his father; run along deer trails in the nearby Nisbet Forest Reserve; walk to school on the old Carlton Trail; model home-sewn fashions inspired by the latest Eaton’s catalogue; navigate the social dynamics of a small one-room school; and come to understand how the diverse personalities that made up his extended family—from hardworking pioneer grandparents to an infamous distant cousin accused of murder—helped to shape his own identity. <br><br>Told with zest and a keen eye for humorous detail, Horse Lake Chronicles immerses readers in a way of life now scarcely remembered, and in doing so invites us to reflect on our own origins and pathways to adulthood.