Among the books I've been reading lately was our last book club pick, Nellie McClung, by Charlotte Gray -- part of John Ralston Saul's extraordinary Canadians series.
The book brought me totally back to my university days when I read all sorts of stuff like this. (Yes, I was a Canadian history nerd.) Seems like a lifetime ago...
The book's a relatively quick read, and while it's definitely more essay-ish than some of Gray's other books I've really enjoyed, I still liked this one. Nellie was born 100 years before me, and I was really struck by what a difference that century has made on the lives of Canadian women. I take so many things for granted now, but reading about Nellie made me reflect on things I should appreciate just a little bit more.
But I also thought about how Nellie's life was in some ways easier than today. For example, in spite of not learning to read until the age of 10, at 16, she decides she wants to pursue teaching, so heads off to Winnipeg for a bit of schooling and lands her first job. If only becoming a teacher were so easy today! And later in life, Nellie becomes a published author and popluar freelance writer and serialist. Perhaps Gray overstates the ease with which McClung achieves this, but it certainly seems as though her success was quite easy indeed. Not to say that success wasn't deserved, but her struggles or setbacks in this regard seemed to be few and far between.
Maybe those hardships came in other forms though, because the insights into McClung's personal life and marriage are pretty skimpy. Gray suggests that McClung's husband may have suffered from depression or other mental issues (shades of L.M. Montgomery here), and then following McClung's death, her oldest daughter burned all of her mother's diaries and papers. The reason for this is never fully explained -- and likely not known by Gray -- but as a reader, you're left with the feeling that a huge mother/daughter rift may have been the cause.
An interesting lady, an interesting life and an interesting life. Thanks, Nellie.
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