The Cacouna Caves and the Hidden Mural by Barbara Burgess

The Cacouna Caves and the Hidden Mural: Book One in the Cacouna Saga

By Montreal author Barbara Burgess

Deanna Aynsworth’s older brother, Matthew, stares at a seventeenth-century painting of a sea captain. The captain looks just like him. Then, before her eyes, Matthew vanishes without a trace. A year later, still struggling with the disappearance of her brother, Deanna decides to get away for the summer. She and her boyfriend, Justin, rent a room in a B&B near Cacouna village. They discover a seventeenth-century diary by Wasaweg, a young Mi’gmaq woman, who fell in love with a shipwrecked Frenchman in New France. She and Matthieu lived on Cacouna Island—until the day he, too, mysteriously disappeared. As Deanna reads Wasaweg’s journal, she finds consolation in the young Mi’gmaq woman’s perceptions and expression. Deanna also learns first-hand the uncanny truth of what really happened to her brother.

Montreal author Barbara Burgess received her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from McGill University, where she pursued graduate studies specializing in medieval English literature. A member of the Quebec Writers Federation, she has presented talks and also been interviewed by CBC over the years.