As a child raised in a poor family during the Depression, the author could only dream of travel and a fine education. Despite dismal prospects, she fulfilled her dreams, traveling extensively and obtaining a doctorate from Harvard University. This memoir begins with her childhood in a working-class suburb of Montreal, where she grew up in the aftermath of the First World War. As a young woman, she worked as a secretary for the International Air Transport Association, visiting Europe, South American and northern Africa. It was a glamorous career, almost unimaginable for a person from a humble...