Against every instinct in her being 15-year old Nola agreed to abandon her family. Escape Grand Pré, they said: if you were free it would be a great boost to our spirits.
Between 1755 and 1763 the British expelled some 15,000 Acadians from Nova Scotia but they didn't get them all. Nola was one of 3-5,000 who managed to escape.
She would be called a scallywag - or worse - and treated like dirt. Band of Acadians tracks her journey as she endures wartime hardships, injury, lack of food, deep fear and a few successes.
Her journey ends with a remarkable twist of fate: confronting harsh challenges had transformed her. Starting as a frightened runaway she becomes a confident, and respected, young woman.