The Dionne Years: A Thirties Melodrama

by Pierre Berton

The story of the Dionne identical quints, born in Ontario Canada in May 1934.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography, Canada, Biography Memoir, Historical

232 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

From narrative histories and popular culture, to picture and coffee table books to anthologies, to stories for children to readable, historical works for youth, many of his books are now Canadian classics.

Born in 1920 and raised in the Yukon, Pierre Berton worked in Klondike mining camps during his university years. He spent four years in the army, rising from private to captain/instructor at the Royal Military College in Kingston. He spent his early newspaper career in Vancouver, where at 21 he was the youngest city editor on any Canadian daily. He wrote columns for and was editor of Maclean's magazine, appeared on CBC's public affairs program "Close-Up" and was a permanent fixture on "Front Page Challenge" for 39 years. He was a columnist and editor for the Toronto Star, and a writer and host of a series of CBC programs.

Pierre Berton has received over 30 literary awards including the Governor-General's Award for Creative Non-Fiction (three times), the Stephen Leacock Medal of Humour, and the Gabrielle Leger National Heritage Award. He received two Nellies for his work in broadcasting, two National Newspaper awards, and the National History Society's first award for "distinguished achievement in popularizing Canadian history." For his immense contribution to Canadian literature and history, he has been awarded more than a dozen honourary degrees, is a member of the Newsman's Hall of Fame and a Companion of the Order of Canada.

Reviews

[Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine a reality TV show before TV and a Cohen brothers movie before the Cohen brothers about 5 identical children that all takes place in a place billed as "Quintland".

Once seeing the illustration of the campus with buildings like Public Observation Playground and Midwives Souvenir Pavilion you know that this is going to be an interesting story. Amazingly, it is a true story, that happened once upon a time, in the 1930's

[Jodie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was quite excited to read this book as I find the story of the Dione quintuplets interesting. I wanted to know all about their lives in the "hospital" and the difficult transition they had moving into their parent's home. I was expecting an introspective into the quintuplets' lives but instead it focused mainly on Dr. Dafoe. The title of the book really should have been "The Dafoe Years". Dr. Dafoe is really the only person we learn anything about. Overall pretty disappointed.

[DipShitBookClub · Rating 3 out of 5]

While expropriating French Canadian children may be good for the economy you still shouldn’t do it.

[Jean M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow!!
As usual with Pierre Berton, a to the point historical retelling of Canadian history. I liked his style and approach in many of his other books and this one is no different.
I knew of the Dionne quintuplets from different conversations but had never invested in learning more. Having grown up in Northern Ontario and having traveled through North Bay a thousand times, the little old house where the quints were born was always just there on the side of the Hwy 17. It's not until I started reading this book that I was hit with the immensity of the story. The intro chapter does an amazing job at reminding the reader of the 1930's which is part of the reason why the Dionne's were such a big thing. Pre-war WWII, pre-tv and pre-explosion of media...was just perfect for the appearance of a wonder of the world. As Berton says "the chances of a woman giving birth to fraternal quintuplets were 54 million to one. The chance of such children growing to adulthood was incalculable. "
Because this was the depression era, "they saved an entire region from bankruptcy. At their peak, they represented a $500M asset.
By 1936, the quintuplet industry was in full swing, and Quintland (where they lived and where you could visit them) equalled Niagara Falls as the biggest tourist attraction in Canada, rivaled only in the US by Radio City, Gettysburg and Mount Vernon!"

Of course, with so much money at stake, things got ugly. Custody battles with parents, governments, lawyers and businesses fought for the rights of the quints. A lot of it seems like a true sci-fi fiction story - but it all happened and I've seen the little house to prove it.

The small town, French, and Catholic angles bring an interesting dynamic that could have been explored further - but Berton stuck to his historical storytelling.

I truly appreciated learning a little more about what was such a unique set of circumstances.

[Sheri S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Dionne quintuplets were born in rural Ontario, Canada to a couple who already had five children. The arrival of the five identical girls was a surprise to all and they quickly became famous throughout Canada, and ultimately, the world. In what seemed to be much more about money than the safety of the girls, they were removed from their home, placed under guardianship and allowed limited contact with their parents and other siblings. The book focuses more on their doctor, Allan Roy Defoe, and his care of and financial profiting because of the twins than it does the twins themselves. The author discusses how various companies vied for endorsements by the individuals representing the Dionne quints. The end of the book provides some insight into what life was actually like for the girls. For a more in depth account of the Dionne girls' lives and reflections, the book references the quintuplet's own book, "We Were Five."

[Felicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh, it was okay. It was pretty interesting to read about an important situation in Canadian history. The author did really well setting the stage, giving information about the time period, economic situation, what was popular, etc., so I wasn't too lost, even though the book was written almost 40 years ago. It amazes me that back then the obsession with celebrity was exactly the same as it is now.

[Lorraine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I believe there is a lot of space in the world for this story to be re-written. Though a journalist and under the guise of being neutral, Berton's bias as a business man, is very clear to me. For one thing, he spends a lot of the book talking about the money and contracts and endorsements relating to the Dionnes and their fame and setting it in context for a 1970s reader. In itself, I think this side of the story is a critical one because money was a strong motivator in much of what happened to the Quints. However, I felt that Berton belabours the point -- it actually makes his book more relevant as a historical resource for commercial endeavours of the 1930s. He devotes an entire paragraph to naming all the cars that were seen visiting Quintland. Feels a bit like filler, unless you're a car buff.
Another factor in my claim that Berton is biased is his presentation of people and the voices he gives them. I've not read any of his sources, so I can't know for sure what was available to him, but he gives a lot of text to other professional men, including describing their appearances, and very little to women. I know very little about the nurses and teachers who worked with the Quints, but there's background on the lawyers and any politician or ad-man who did business with Quintland. The bias here likely reflects Berton's time and general worldview of that culture, but because our perspective has changed the story could be presented again.
Further, there's a slant against the Dionne parents for being rigid Catholics and uneducated French Canadians. Berton does not come right out and criticize them, but I think there's room to look at how they behaved given the context of their worldview. What was important to them as rural staunch Catholic farmers was different than the big city Ontario journalists. How farmers raised their families, how Catholics raised their families, their attitude towards money and what should be private versus public would explain many of their actions and reactions, and then the culture clash of Blatz and the government and all the Hollywood and businessmen on their door steps would very much through things up in the air. I'm not saying I'm on the side of the Dionne parents, I just htink the explanations for their behaviours -- and the attitude of the girls as adults -- could be explained with a better lens.
Berton mentions two reporters who wrote articles that were sympathetic to the Dionnes, but he does not tell us what they said. He cites a female reporter who took Mrs. Dionne's side, but he never gives her a voice (possibly because he later includes a footnote indicating that her work was not credible, but I still think he conveniently sweeps her away).
I also think Berton's portrayal of the Dionne sisters as adults is very male-biased and unfair. He judges them for their poor money management and broken relationships. I would suggest that it would have been a miracle if they did know how to deal with money and have strong relationships with others outside of their sisterhood given their tumultuous upbringing! Going from being coddled and kept on a keen schedule until 9 years old and then thrown into a rural French-Catholic house with people you know only cursorily would be such a culture shock! A strike father who was clearly a domineering man whose authority had been undermined for 9 years by Dafoe and then suddenly gets his own way again would likely continue to rule his household out of that anger and humiliation and fear that it could happen again. So he dictates that the girls can't go out (their fame was still a big deal and likely they would be mobbed) and he is frugal and wealthy and resentful of people making more money off them than he could have, so of course he tightly controls their money, too. I don't agree with his tactics, but I think they're human reactions to an unprecedented and complicated situation. Today, the amount of counselling all of them would need to move past that mental and emotional tug of war would keep a whole office of therapists busy for years.
Berton is too nice to Dafoe. Yes, he talks about how the doctor hid his commissions and says the doctor loved the girls, but there is so much more to criticize about the man who said he was simple and humble and yet loved the spotlight and the control and who was likely also acting out of a place of childhood brokenness (never measuring up to his own father's expectations). The government of Ontario was culpable, too, though all of it was likely one of those situations that starts off as emergency damage-control and then evolves into a financial monster that is too powerful to rein in.
Berton uses the sister-in-law and ex-husbands of the sisters to paint them in a poor light as adults, with the sister saying their family was lovely so she doesn't understand their perspective. Why should I believe that she has a genuine perspective on their side of the story? She would not have seen what Papa Dionne did to them behind closed doors (whether it was physical or psychological) because theirs would be a family that showed a public face and hid the private demons -- even to someone who marries into the family. The ex-husband who sympathizes with Mr. Dionne appears to be a male chauvinist too, and that the sisters should automatically be submissive to their father. The other ex-husband might have needed to give his wife the ultimatum of "me or your sisters", but again, that's understandable that they only knew how to relate and live relative to each other and could not exclude each other in favour of a man. They never learned how to have outside friendships when they only had each other for the first nine years of their lives! Don't make them guilty for their personalities; they are victims of their birth and the people who manipulated that situation.
A 21st, Me-Too perspective is likely going to be much more sympathetic to the Dionne sisters and forgive them for their adult "eccentricities" and privacy and broken marriages. It could be more forgiving of people who did what they could and thought was best in a time and location of limited perspectives. Their story could be re-told in a much different way using today's lens.

[Dale Booker · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book, very well thought out by the legendary Pierre Berton. Clearly researched to provide one of the most accurate retrospectives of the Dionne Quintuplets. Nobody's perfect, but stories like these make you wish that those involved were a little bit better.

[Erika Nerdypants · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book on the Dionne quintuplets. I particularly enjoyed the historical background, but was somewhat disappointed as to how little information was provided on them as adults. Might look for more on that at some point.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pierre Berton again popularizes Canadian history and culture. The Dionne Years shines a light on this family and the quintuplets who were a worldwide sensation. The human cost was another story. Berton takes us back to the 1930's in Canada, and the historic births in Corbeil, Ontario.

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why use 1 word, when you can use many? Interesting story, just don't enjoy his style.

[Arrika Arrachne]

Sensationalist storytelling in the years before reality television...

[The Chicks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Teresa's pick

[Marc Chénier · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's awful what people can do because of greed. As far as the quints go, everybody around them deluded themselves into thinking they were doing the right thing to protect them. What bullshit! Even the government of Ontario who are supposed to look out for the welfare of its population had only money in sight. Let's rip away these five little girls from their mother and father, put them in a "hospital" specially built for them, you know with privacy screen so people can look at them like zoo animals and look at all the revenue that comes in. Disgusting! Apart from their mother I don't think anybody really cared for these girls. Well done Mr. Berton for delivering this very insightful book to the public.

Next hardcover: "The Wild Frontier: More Tales From The Remarkable Past: by Pierre Berton (1978)

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book after reading a more personal, detailed account of the early lives of the quintuplets based on the journals and letters of one of their nurses, who had been with them from the beginning. I was curious about some of the perceptions, which seemed likely to have been biased, and I wanted to determine if their lives were indeed a tragedy as some claimed, if people had done things in their best interests, what the parents were really like, etc., so I turned to this book by Pierre Berton, as a more factual, unbiased representation of what exactly happened with this family. Berton’s book is very well written, factual and interesting, and also gives a good picture of and understanding of the political and social currents of the times.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being written in 1977, it has the advantage of access to several people still alive during the time of the quints, and their first-hand accounts. But as well written as it is, it somehow feels like little more than a curiosity...and it's clear that Pierre Burton is even more interested in the era than in the actual quints themselves. The conclusion of the book implies this is too big a story to ever be forgotten, but here in the early 21st century, the story of the Dionne quints has fallen into the category of interesting historical sideshow; they have most certainly disappeared into the cracks within the thick loam of the past.

[Amy Dale · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very excited to read this book and Berton is generally a great author, but this book barely even mentions the Dionne Quints themselves, it's all about the doctor, politics and life in Canada during the 30s, the girls themselves are only really mentioned on a few pages, we don't get to know their experience, feelings or personalities whatsoever. Hugely disappointed I skimmed in vain and only found a handful of relevant pages, I can't recommend this book at all.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a terribly sad life this whole family had. None of them really stood a chance at a normal life. I can see how it happened, given the time and circumstances but still, how terribly sad. This book was more fact based with a weaker narriative style, but still fascinating. It filled in so many rick details of the area and the time.

[Myra Breckinridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of how Depression Era quintuplets became an international obsession and economic backbone during desperate time. Children caught between wealth and poverty, family and celebrity, safety and overzealousness, modernity and religious tradition. It is an exploration of an unanticipated circumstance handled terribly, yet plagued by questionable alternate paths.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

read it twice...its a past read not on my 2025 list. The last Quint recently passed away. sad tale of greed by the government and I'm pretty sure the parents were threatened with kidnapping by the doctor if they didn't put them in the roadside show house carnival like crap they lived in. away from family

[Melinda Borie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would love for someone to write a book this good that incorporates more recent information about the sexual abuse allegations and the sisters’ later lives. But this book is very good considering it’s from the 1970s.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in bits. It was typically Berton’s writing - very factual and loaded with info.
I was glad to read about these 5 girls who wowed the world in the thirties. Much of what I thought I knew was incorrect and now I know better.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads like a documentary, and very sad. The quints were such an anomaly, the government and mainly their doctor, immediately took custody "for their own good," and the poor parents needed ab appointment to visit. Very sad!

[Lisa Rosenow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the info very interesting and sad. I read it quickly on vacation in Cape Breton

[Caralyn Rubli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a biography. It's about the people and times around the children and how they figured into it

[Huguette Larochelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

in this book you learn a lot about the personality of the doctor.
Very details book.

[thomasin · Rating 2 out of 5]

too much about the doctor and not enough about babies

[Mary Steeves · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my opinion, this book referenced current affairs at the time of the quints fame more than focusing on the quints themselves.

[Ghost of a Rose]

Recommended by Shelley Wood, author of Quintland Sisters

[Maurice Tougas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The late great Canadian historian Pierre Berton's The Dionne Years is a concise, fascinating and painfully sad chronicle of the first identical quintuplets ever to survive. Born during the Depression in small-town Ontario to French-Canadian parents, the Quints survival story was a true miracle, and what happened to them after is so bizarre, so tragic, it will amaze 21st-century readers.