First-wave feminist, activist, and social reformer, Nellie McClung ranked as one of the most popular Canadian authors and among the liveliest critics of Canada's male-dominated society. Well ahead of her time, McClung was known as a writer who dared to discuss taboo topics, and for her inimitable humour, which rivals that of Stephen Leacock. This selection of her best short fiction includes depictions of difficult rural living conditions in Western Canada as well as "consciousness-raising" stories reflecting the undue restrictions on women and the anti-female laws and attitudes of her day.
First-wave feminist, activist, and social reformer, Nellie McClung ranked as one of the most popular Canadian authors and among the liveliest critics ...
Nellie McClung's fourth book, In Times Like These, written in 1915, survives as a classic formulation of a feminist position. With hard-hitting rhetoric it demands women's rights as a logical extension of traditional views of female moral superiority and maternal responsibility.
Nellie McClung's fourth book, In Times Like These, written in 1915, survives as a classic formulation of a feminist position. With hard-hitting rhe...
The third of Nellie McClung's four novels, Purple Springs (1921) completes the story of Pearlie Watson, the oldest child of shanty Irish immigrants settled in southwest Manitboa. Peral - now a country schoolteacher - has learned that the pain and suffering of the world is ingrained in structures which are not easily or effectively swayed by 'the art of being kind.'
Purple Springs fictionally extends many of the arguments made by McClung in In Times Like These regarding 'male statecraft, ' graphically illustrating the consequences through her characters. McClung skilfully weaves...
The third of Nellie McClung's four novels, Purple Springs (1921) completes the story of Pearlie Watson, the oldest child of shanty Irish immigrants...
Painted Fires, first published in 1925, narrates the trials and tribulations of Helmi Milander, a Finnish immigrant, during the years approaching the First World War. The novel serves as a vehicle for McClung's social activism, especially in terms of temperance, woman suffrage, and immigration policies that favour cultural assimilation. In her afterword, Cecily Devereux situates Painted Fires in the context of McClung's feminist fiction and her interest in contemporary questions of immigration and "naturalization." She also considers how McClung's representation of Helmi...
Painted Fires, first published in 1925, narrates the trials and tribulations of Helmi Milander, a Finnish immigrant, during the years approa...
