The Small Details of Life
 Kathryn Carter, Editor
 (Reviewer - Kate Holmes)
 2002 University of Toronto Press
  ISBN: 0802081592


20 Diaries by Women in Canada 1830-1996. “This is an exceptionally rich collection. In her critical introduction, Kathryn Carter deftly explores all of the major questions central to the study of diaries as a form of life writing particularly congenial to Canadian women, past and present. This superb collaborative project makes a significant contribution to the theory and practice of diary writing. Equally as important, this collection fills a crucial niche in North American literature, history, women's studies, and autobiographical writing.” Suzanne Bunkers, Professor of English, Minnesota State University.

Associate Reviewer Kate Holmes writes:

It was my privilege to meet Kathryn Carter at a small gathering held at the Green Heron Book Store in Paris, Ontario, Canada. There, Ms Carter, accompanied by her husband & two small girls, shared an overview of her work, as well as a few excerpts from her book. A lovely & gracious lady, Kathryn Carter is a professor of English at Sir Wilfred Laurier University, Brantford Campus in Brantford, Ontario.

The small details that Kathryn Carter has so carefully gathered, are indeed, the small details of the lives of women from one century to another, from the most humble homemakers of the 1800's, such as mother & daughter Sarah & Susan Crease, to career women of the 20 Century, like author Edna Staebler.

I found Sarah & Susan Crease to be especially fascinating. It is obvious from reading Sarah Crease's diary entries that her life is one of duty & hard work. She does not see the world the same way as her daughter, nor does she waste words, & many of her entries are just one line recordings of important issues of her day. In contrast, her daughter Susan is a lively young girl who pours out her hopes & dreams in pen & ink. Her adolescent feelings, her crushes, & rivalries with her sisters are laid out in extravagant detail. Her childish resentment of her sisters & her perception of her mother belie the fact that she is twenty-two years of age at the time.

While Sophie Alice Puckett, just after the turn of the 20th century, writes very personal entries concerning her feelings about her life, she appears to stop writing after her wedding. In the same time period, Caroline Alice Porter keeps records from the time her youngest daughter is married until 1934, with only a few years unaccounted for.

Perhaps most touching is the diary of Frances Ramsay Simpson. In 1830 she recorded her voyage from England as a young bride, to become one of the first women “of substance” to be introduced to the New World. Her honesty in regards to what she calls “Grief, Hope and Fear,” gives this reader pause, & the story with its accompanying diary is a grand opening to this wonderful piece of Herstory.

As Kathryn Carter says in her Introduction, “The act (of diary keeping) is one of preservation or putting up stores; the diary is a Mason jar packed with a rich harvest of details.” Page 19. This overall theme stands out in every story, as these 20 women open their hearts to share their most private thoughts and feelings. Little did Frances Ramsay Simpson know that 170 years later her writings would become a part of such a collection of Mason jars.

Kathryn Carter has made it possible, with utmost respect for the writer, for us to share in lives of women whose circumstances we have had only a general idea of through television shows & movies, mostly set in the US. It is indeed an honour for Canadian women to share in the lives of our sisters.

The Small Details of Life is a must read for women in any country, & of any faith.
(02/09/03)

Kate Holmes
2003©Kate Holmes
A RebeccasReads.Com Associate Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio
She is a Canadian wife, mother, grandmother, & avid reader. She has hungered for knowledge her whole life which has led her to haunt her local library & used book stores, looking for “old friends.” She has several bookshelves over which presides a print of Amergin, an ancient wizard from Celtic myth.

A welcome addition to her study, Della, her computer (named for its maker), has become a large part of her world. For some time Kate Holmes reviewed for another ezine, & as a means of giving herself a more varied reading experience, has joined RebeccasReads as a Associate Reviewer.