Wacousta: Penguin Modern Classics Edition [Paperback]

NOW A PENGUIN MODERN CLASSIC: Twining revenge tragedy with gothic romance, John Richardson's Wacousta is a story of betrayal, false identity, and wasted love during one of the most violent episodes in the history of the Canadian frontier.


     On the northwest frontier in 1763, a mysterious man named Wacousta lies at the heart of a violent attack on the British garrison Fort Detroit. Consumed by a thirst for vengeance that borders on madness, this monstrous figure assists Pontiac's Indian alliance to satisfy a deeply personal vendetta--one whose roots stretch back across decades and continents. Thrilling and suspenseful, Wacousta creates a world of deception and terror in which motive is ambiguous and the boundary between order and anarchy unclear.JOHN RICHARDSON was the first Canadian-born novelist to achieve international recognition. He balanced much of his writing career with service in the British Army, leading him first to the United States, where he was imprisoned for a year during the war of 1812, and later to England and the West Indies. Wacousta, written in 1832, was his third and most successful novel. Richardson died in 1852.Two

It was during the midnight watch, late in September, 1763, that the English garrison of Détroit, in North America, was thrown into the utmost consternation by the sudden and mysterious introduction of a stranger within its walls. The circumstance at this moment was particularly remarkable; for the period was so fearful and pregnant with events of danger, the fort being assailed on every side by a powerful and vindictive foe, that a caution and vigilance of no common kind were unceasingly exercised by the prudent governor for the safety of those committed to his charge. A long series of hostilÓé