More Than a Rose: Prime Ministers, Wives, and Other Women

by Heather Robertson

The role of the wife of some of Canada's most powerful men has been so severely edited out of history that she has become the Invisible Lady of Canadian politics. Yet the women behind the men in power have played an often-pivotal role in their husbands' careers. Now, celebrated author and journalist Heather Robertson brings Canada's official women out of the closet. Here are lives of adventure, love, loneliness, and scandal, revealing for the first time ever the poignant private realities behind the public myths. From Alexander Mackenzie's plain Jane to flamboyant rebels Maryon Pearson, Maureen McTeer, and Geills Turner, from Pierre Trudeau's free-spirited Margaret to Brian Mulroney's Gucci-chic Mila, here are the women who helped shape the destiny of a nation.

Wives mistresses, mothers, and others...

Genres: Nonfiction, History

439 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather...

Reviews

[Carolyn Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining popular history of the wives, mistresses and close female friends of Canadian Prime Ministers, as well as Canada's 1st female MP Agnes McPhail, which is filled with fun anecdotes about political personal lives such as Prime Minister Lester Pearson asking his wife Maryon what she thought of his speech and Maryon responding that he missed a number of opportunities to sit down. The dynamic between vice regal consorts and spouses of Prime Ministers in Canada is especially interesting. While Lady Aberdeen befriended Zoe Laurier and Annie Thompson, Lady Dufferin's glittering social life intimated "Plain Jane" Mackenzie. As the book was published in 1991, the more recent spouses of Canadian Prime Ministers are not included and new sources have become available in recent decades (including another two books by Margaret Trudeau). The author also has clear favourites amongst her subjects. Robertson admires John Diefenbaker's second wife Olive Diefenbaker to such an extent that she argues that Olive was better dressed than Jackie Kennedy but is very critical of John A Macdonald's invalid first wife Isabella MacDonald, arguing that her illnesses were a way to gain attention from her husband and in-laws. A 21st century book of this kind would likely discuss mental health in more sensitive manner. More than a Rose is an entertaining but dated read.