Agnes Macphail: Letters from the Commons

Elected in 1921, Agnes Macphail was Canada's first female Member of Parliament. She sent regular letters back to her constituents in Grey County, which were published in local newspapers. This little book links quotations from Agnes Macphail, with contemporary drawings by Judy Lowry and poems by Susan Gibson.

The words of Agnes Macphail continue to resonate: her sense of remorse about not being able to have it all--career, husband and children--could have been spoken by many women today; her regret that droves of women did not follow her into elected office; her stand-up comedic timing in Parliament which she used to diffuse the resentment of her presence.