Join Paula as she presents the events and chronicles of her journey in the writing of her book.
A genealogical memoir, The Long Walk Home with the Ceinture Fléchée: The Arrow Sash, by local Author Paula Grandpre Wood, has elements of suspense, adventure, joy, and grief. Her story is a testament to the endurance of faith, family, and traditions. A Barre, MA resident who grew up in Central Falls, RI and Northboro, MA, Grandpre Wood tracks down her ancestors, pieces together their stories, and wraps herself in the cloth Arrow Sash, a tradition that has been passed down in her family for generations. Travel back in time to La Rochelle, France, in the 1600s, where Grandpre Wood’s ancestors survived the siege of La Rochelle. Learn of their immigration to New France in 1658 to begin a new life there. Some of her ancestors, subjected to colonial empires’ politics, survived the Acadian dispersal, and later returned to Quebec. Grandpre Wood’s family left Quebec in the 1920s to start anew in the U.S. Grandpre Wood carries her lessons learned onto the Long Trail in Vermont. Throughout her travels the family Sash and its enduring tradition have helped bind together her family. The connecting theme throughout the book is finding her way home—home with the Arrow Sash—the Ceinture Fléchée.