Who Were the Whiteoaks and where was Jalna?

Book excerpt: Heather Kirk offers new sources for the fictional Whiteoak family in the world-famous Jalna novels by Canadian author Mazo de la Roche. The Whitesoaks were modelled on an ingenious combination of close relatives of de la Roche and her cousin and life-long companion Caroline Clement. What's more, the Whiteoak's estate, Jalna, was based on a combination of several large properties owned by these relatives in York and Simcoe counties. For the sources of the Whiteoaks and Jalna, biographers would have looked beyond Halton County where de la Roche and Clement lived for a few years when they were in their thirties. They also should have looked beyond Peel County where de la Roche and Clement stayed for a few seasons when they were in their forties. De la Roche's knowledge of rural life came primarily from the people and places of her childhood and youth.