Although he is largely forgotten today, William McLennan contributed significantly to two of the main currents of literary activity of his day in Canada-the rendering of French-Canadian songs and stories in English and the writing of what is loosely known as historical fiction, a form that did not always fully suit McLennan's talents. His work with French-Canadian material was inspired by a genuine love for the history and traditions of the French in Canada; his portraits of French-Canadian life show that his strongest literary gifts lay in the domain of the short story, the humorous sketch, and the tale. As well, this work reveals McLennan's interesting ambivalence toward the origins of the French Revolution and the destruction of the monarchy. His two novels, generally less powerful and skillful than his shorter pieces, are shaped less by literary structures than by the historical and romantic forces that McLennan imagined...