The Famous Five: Canada's Crusaders for Women's Rights

by Barbara Smith

A concise history of the five women who changed the course of history and brought Canadians one step closer to equality.

Genres: Nonfiction, Canada, Historical, Feminism

138 pages, Paperback

Published March 15, 2019

About the author

Barbara Smith is a Canadian author celebrated for her captivating collections of ghost stories steeped in folklore, history, and national identity. Since leaving her job as a school secretary in 1988, she has published numerous books exploring Canada’s most enduring supernatural legends. Her passion for the paranormal was sparked as a child in Toronto and grew into a lifelong pursuit, fueled by a background in social history and mystery. With titles like Great Canadian Ghost Stories and Great Canadian Campfire Stories, Smith shares eerie tales from coast to coast, entertaining readers while preserving Canada's rich storytelling tradition.

Reviews

[Novelesque Life · Rating 4 out of 5]

RATING: 4 STARS

The Famous Five is a group of Canadian women in Alberta coming together and fighting for women rights. Smith does a great job giving an overview of each woman (Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Louise McKinney and Irene Parlby) - their background, family, spouses and children, and what they passionately fought for. As impressive and fierce as this women were, they were fighting on the behalf of white women. Smith also brings up some problematic issues they supported, like eugenics. Learning history is always bittersweet. I can applaud their efforts in trying to make women seem more like people, and still not put them on a pedestal of greatness.

[Catherine Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up when I was in Canada as it looked interesting. It’s hard to believe that in 1927 women were not recognised as persons in Canada . Given the recent rulings in America it looks like women around the globe still have a long fight on their hands.

[Annika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein interessanter kurzer Überblick über fünf Frauen, die kanadische Geschichte geschrieben haben. Die fünf haben sich ihr Leben lang für die Rechte von Frauen eingesetzt und u.a. erlangt, dass Frauen im Senat vertreten sein dürfen. Dich auch sie hatten Ansichten, die einem heute die Sprache verschlagen. Das Buch regt in jedem Fall dazu an, noch mehr über kanadische Geschichte zu erfahren.

[Rachel Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

For school. Very helpful