Purple Springs - Nellie McClung

Nellie L. McClung (1873-1951) is a Canadian icon - a feminist, social activist, author, and political leader. Born in Ontario, she moved as a child to Manitoba with her pioneering family. As a teacher in rural Manitoba, she was a keen observer of village life at the turn of the century. As a suffragette, McClung led the campaign for women's enfranchisement, which saw Manitoba become the first province in Canada to grant the vote to women in 1916, a right granted at the national level in 1918, before either the US (1920) or UK (1928). Elected to the Alberta legislature in 1921, she championed children’s health care and women’s rights. As a member of the "famous five", whose statues now graces the grounds of the Manitoba legislature, her 1929 court challenge led to the recognition of women as “persons”, eligible to sit as federal senators. As an author, she is best known for The Pearl Watson Trilogy, whose main character is reminiscent of that other Canadian heroine, Anne of Green Gables. When published in 1908, Sowing Seeds in Danny was a national bestseller, selling more than 100,000 copies and introducing the young Pearl Watson, the Watson clan, and the villagers of Millford, Manitoba. The story of Pearl's teen years was told in The Second Chance, and Purple Springs is the third volume in the trilogy, which recounts Pearl's coming of age as a school teacher on the Canadian prairies. - Summary by ASharma