C N McGrail - women's writes Podcast

In this episode, I reflect on the idea of “capacity": what it means, who defines it, and why so much of it is still expected of women.Through the story of my great-grandmother Susanna, who raised twelve children while building a life out of poverty, I explore the hidden labour women have always carried. I also consider how those expectations persist today, shaped by modern work, family life, and the emotional weight we often hold without acknowledgement.This is a personal reflection on endurance, inheritance, grief, and heartbreak and a question of whether women’s strength has too often been used to justify the unequal systems we still live within. Get full access to Ada Gardener - women's writes at adagardener.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, I explore the quiet power of furniture—how the objects we inherit carry memory, identity, and untold histories.From my father’s childhood desk to a walnut bureau that once belonged to my great-grandmother Susanna, these pieces hold stories of survival, education, and ambition. They also reveal something deeper: how women’s lives, so often absent from official records, are preserved instead in the domestic spaces they shaped.This is a reflection on inheritance—not just of objects, but of values, patterns, and the invisible labour of the women who came before us. Get full access to Ada Gardener - women's writes at adagardener.substack.com/subscribe

Every family has its stories. The ones told and retold until they harden into truth.In this episode, I begin to unravel the myth of my great-grandmother, Susanna—a woman I’ve come to see as both extraordinary and deeply unknowable. According to family lore, she rose from poverty, bought land, built a house, and created a thriving business against all odds. But the deeper I look, the less certain that story becomes.Where did the money come from? How did she really live? And why was she remembered, by some, as a “difficult woman”?What emerges isn’t a clear narrative, but something more complex: fragments, contradictions, and inherited beliefs passed down through generations. Alongside this, I begin to notice patterns—of mental health, family conflict, and the ways women are judged—that echo uncomfortably into the present.This episode is about more than one woman. It’s about how family myths are made, how they shape us, and what happens when we start to question them.Because sometimes, the stories we inherit tell us as much about ourselves as they do about the past.Sharing this on your Substack makes a huge difference….go on! Get full access to Ada Gardener - women's writes at adagardener.substack.com/subscribe

On Good Friday, we’re told a story about death and resurrection. But what if that story didn’t begin with Christianity—and what if, at its heart, it has always belonged to women?In this episode, I step away from my family history to explore a different kind of inheritance: the ancient, often hidden, feminine thread running through the story of Easter. From Mary Magdalene—the first witness to the resurrection—to far older myths of goddesses who descend into darkness and return transformed, a deeper pattern begins to emerge.This is a story about cycles: light and dark, life and death, loss and renewal. It’s a story written in the turning of the seasons, the waxing and waning of the moon, and the resilience of the natural world.What if resurrection isn’t a single miracle, but something we all experience—again and again—throughout our lives?This episode is a reflection on rebirth, the power of the feminine, and the ancient truths we may have forgotten—but still feel, somewhere deep within us. Get full access to Ada Gardener - women's writes at adagardener.substack.com/subscribe

In this first episode, Caroline reflects on the moment that inspired her new writing project: a visit to her family’s graves and the discovery of her great-grandmother’s epitaph. Prompted by the words “Her life was sorrow and suffering,” she begins a journey to uncover and tell the story of an ordinary woman from the past. Get full access to Ada Gardener - women's writes at adagardener.substack.com/subscribe