Seventy years ago, after years of interviews and form-filling in Displaced Persons camps in Germany, my mother stepped off a ship in Halifax and presented her new documents to an immigration officer at Pier 21. I was with her, a tired and tetchy four year-old. My father and his friend had gone ahead, to find accommodation and work in Northern Ontario. Today I returned to Pier 21, now the Canadian Museum of Immigration. I had the pleasure of donating original documents and obj

A happy smile as I mingled with writers and readers after the short list was announced. Imagine the jaw-dropping surprise when I got two emails in the same week announcing The Golden Daughter was a contender for two literary awards. The Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) has shortlisted me for the Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award. Evelyn Richardson (1902 – 1976) won the 1945 Governor General’s Non-Fiction Award for We Keep A Light . It’s her celebrated memoir of l

I'm just back from my thirteenth bookclub - and it must rate as one of the best yet. Seventeen women, all armed with comments, questions, and tales of how The Golden Daughter reminded them of incidents from their own lives. The numbers attending the bookclubs vary, but the questions generally don’t: Why did Mama never tell you about the letters? What was it like living with your mother? Have you forgiven her for not telling you the truth? What did you do when you found ab