Back in the 1920’s in Canada, a rich man dies with an unusual will. He offers a large cash prize to the woman who can have the most children in the ten years after his death. The story follows two women from starkly different circumstances who are “competing” for the prize. They become friends and rivals as the decade progresses.
This is a strange story with unbelievable premise and yet is based on a true event. I was definitely surprised by the uniqueness of the story and how it highlighted the terrible circumstances women lived in and how little day they had over their own bodies. There is a lot of domestic abuse (both physical and verbal), rape, racism and homophobia portrayed. All realities of the time (perhaps most of that hasn’t even changed much) but it made for a very depressing read. I needed a little more in the way of hope and about 100 less pages. I did however appreciate learning about a piece of history I wasn’t aware of and I have not read much Canadian literature, so there’s that.
Thanks to Harper Perennial for the gifted copy. All opinions above are my own.
I wanted to share this one on pub day, but held off due to the strike. How long does it take you to post a review after reading?
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