Early readers comment on Sylvie's Chance

“Official histories have lost many stories about women, and starting with a family genealogy holding only traces of an adventurous young woman in the mid-1800s, Sylvie’s Chance creatively assembles a riveting novel about courage and independence.” – Anna Eblen, Fevers of Unknown Origin; Women Who Speak for Peace

“Amid beautiful descriptions of a still young United States, Carolyn Dale expertly weaves the tale of adventurer Sylvie Pensoneau, from her youth as an orphan to being a settler, war refugee, journalist, and young mother. Sylvie’s story represents the bravery and determination of so many women in the 1830s who dared to pursue the chance to create a new life for themselves. An excellent work of historical fiction.” – Penny Page, Not Haunted

“A young woman struggles for a say in her own future in frontier America. From broad panoramas to enticing domestic details, Sylvie’s Chance offers an unusual view of the 1830s, as bicultural and bilingual Sylvie breaks away from French-colonial life in Illinois to a freer life in Texas only to be confronted with war and the fears, joys, and moral complexities of the struggle for land and livelihood.” — Sarah Brownsberger, poet, essayist and translator

“Sylvie’s Chance sets the struggles for independence of a young French woman from Cahokia, Illinois, in the conflicts of the 1830s Texas frontier. As cultures clash, battle, and make tentative peace, Sylvie discovers the inner strength to carve out a place for herself. History and her-story merge in a way that entices us to contemplate how the roots of today’s conflicts are firmly grounded in the past.” – Roz Spitzer, Anna’s Home