Continuation of book review of 'Nellie McClung' by Charlotte Gray

Review of book continued


     Of course the Canadian Senate is a useless body, where even to-day, Liberal and Tory stalwarts get appointed to sit and draw some nice fat salaries. Still, in 1928 totally-male dominated Canada, this court decision counted as a victory for women.
    McClung's life wasn't tragedy-free. One of her four sons became an alcoholic and then later killed himself. Her husband had to take a back seat to her life, which was very very busy. "I spoke at two guest teas this week," McClung told a friend in a letter, "and will speak at one tomorrow. And I have two lectures to give."
     In the 1930's the 60 year-old McClung and her husband Wes finally retired to Victoria to spend their last years there. McClung died in Victoria in 1951. The feminists of the 1970's rediscovered McClung and rescued her from obscurity. She'll never rank up there with Justin Bieber. But she deserves to be remembered and Charlotte Gray has done a good job in capturing McClung's life.