In the 1960s, when women were neither accepted nor encouraged to enter the world of finance, Jean Hough Davey became one of the first women in North America to be licensed as a stockbroker. Propelled by sheer wit and determination, Jean was a pioneer who rose to the highest levels of her profession, eventually becoming Vice President and Director of ScotiaMcLeod.

But while she was publicly lauded, she struggled to maintain equilibrium in her personal life, drowning in an emotionally abusive marriage to Hockey Night in Canada kingpin Ted Hough, and finally summoning up the...