Although I didn't particularly enjoy Aleta Day by Francis Mary Beynon, I was interested in finding out more about the author. The book is the story of Aleta Day, a girl who develops socialist beliefs during her childhood, and pursues life as a radical journalist and suffragette. Beynon's only novel, it is apparently strongly autobiographical, and she sounds like quite a fascinating woman. Writing for the largest weekly paper in Canada in the 1910s (The grain grower's guide), she provided women on prairie farms with advice and support, and tried to pass on her beliefs in women's suffrage and equality. She later directed the suffragette movement in Saskatchwen. A staunch pacifist, she was very angry about the involvement in the First World War, and these views are obvious in Aleta Day (in fact she was sacked from the newspaper for trying to propogate this views).
Published just the once by Virago, with this green cover.
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