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Matrons and Madams

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Based on a true story, Matrons and Madams is a sprawling saga of a teacher-turned-madam and a lady superintendent of a hospital, who join forces to combat the rampant venereal disease that spreads ...
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  • 30 June 2015
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A Globe and Mail Bestseller!

Clara Durling, a British widow of the First World War, arrives in Canada as the new superintendent of the Lethbridge Hospital just as wounded soldiers stream home. Lily Parsons is a young, widowed schoolteacher from Nova Scotia who ends up in the same city, managing a brothel called The Last Post.

Set against the backdrop of love, union organizers, amorous bachelors, gamblers, drinkers, and prostitutes, the lives of these two women unexpectedly intertwine when Clara, in the heat of local politics and responding to the highest incidence of venereal disease in the province, establishes the first venereal disease clinic in the province, with Lily’s help. In this sprawling saga, Lily and Clara must confront the city’s conservative thinkers to bring help and compassion to wounded veterans.

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Price: $24.99
Pages: 328
Publisher: Dundurn Press
Imprint: Dundurn Press
Series: Bread and Roses
Publication Date: 30 June 2015
Trim Size: 8.50 X 5.50 in
ISBN: 9781459728967
Format: Paperback
BISACs: FICTION / Historical, Historical fiction, FICTION / Literary, FICTION / Family Life
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Unlike many novels that place women in wartime as an afterthought - bit players in the lives of men - Johnston makes their fate the focus of her first novel.
Sharon Johnston is the Globe and Mail bestselling author of Matrons and Madams. She grew up in Sault Ste. Marie and graduated with a degree in physical and occupational therapy from the University of Toronto. She completed a doctorate in rehabilitation science from McGill University and ran a horse-training business called Chatterbox Farm. In her many duties as wife of Governor General David Johnston, she has recounted and borne witness to the struggles of Canadian veterans adjusting to life after the Great War. She lives at Rideau Hall, in Ottawa.