Margins
1925
First Published
3.64
Average Rating
263
Number of Pages
"Painted Fires," first published in 1925, narrates the trials and tribulations of Helmi Milander, a Finnish immigrant, during the years approaching the First World War. The novel serves as a vehicle for McClung's social activism, especially in terms of temperance, woman suffrage, and immigration policies that favour cultural assimilation. In her afterword, Cecily Devereux situates "Painted Fires" in the context of McClung's feminist fiction and her interest in contemporary questions of immigration and "naturalization." She also considers how McClung's representation of Helmi Milander's story draws on popular culture narratives.
Avg Rating
3.64
Number of Ratings
11
5 STARS
18%
4 STARS
27%
3 STARS
55%
2 STARS
0%
1 STARS
0%
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Authors

Cecily Devereux
Author · 1 book
Cecily Devereux is a professor in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta. Her publications include Growing a Race: Nellie L. McClung and the Fiction of Eugenic Feminism (2005).
Nellie L. McClung
Nellie L. McClung
Author · 8 books

Nellie McClung, born Nellie Letitia Mooney (20 October 1873 – 1 September 1951), was a Canadian feminist, politician, and social activist. She was a part of the social and moral reform movements prevalent in Western Canada in the early 1900s. In 1927, McClung and four other women: Henrietta Muir Edwards, Emily Murphy, Louise McKinney and Irene Parlby, who together came to be known as "The Famous Five" (also called "The Valiant Five")[citation needed], launched the "Persons Case," contending that women could be "qualified persons" eligible to sit in the Senate. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that current law did not recognize them as such. However, the case was won upon appeal to the Judicial Committee of the British Privy Council—the court of last resort for Canada at that time. She published her first novel Sowing Seeds in Danny in 1908. A national bestseller, it was succeeded by short stories and articles in several Canadian and American magazines.

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