The Ponemah Years: Walking in the Footsteps of My Mother

Gabrielle Picard remembered the "long train ride" from Quebec to Connecticut in 1924. She was four years old when her parents and their twelve children emigrated to Taftville, the location of the famous Ponemah Mill—known for its steady work, fair wages, and good housing. Ahead, the Ponemah years would be etched by loss, but also brim with hope, hard work, and heroes. This is Gabrielle’s story of becoming a weaver in the 1940s, and her daughter’s journey to know her better. The narrative weaves biography, history, memoir, and family portrait. It features 184 images from more than 10 decades.

Bernice L. Rocque is an award-winning writer, educator, family historian, and avid gardener. Her second book, The PONEMAH YEARS: Walking in the Footsteps of My Mother, is nonfiction: equal parts biography, history, memoir, and family portrait, featuring 184 images. The book centers on the author’s journey to better know her mother, a weaver in the 1940s at the famous Ponemah Mill in Taftville, Connecticut. The author grew up in Norwichtown, Connecticut in the surroundings described in her first book, UNTIL the ROBIN WALKS on SNOW, a novella based on a critical event in her father’s family: the birth of a micro preemie in 1922 and the determination of her family and the midwife to save him. Published in 2012, readers have enjoyed this inspiring story of survival, family, faith, and friendship, especially during the Christmas season and winter months, the same season in which the story is set. Readers can connect with Ms. Rocque at her official author website, 3Houses.com, on Twitter @UNTILtheROBIN and Facebook at Bernice.L.Rocque.Author.