Purple Springs

E. Jane Philipps is the science librarian in the Biology Library at
Queen’s University.

Originally published in 1921—the year McClung was first elected to the
Manitoba legislature—Purple Springs completes the semiautobiographical
Pearlie trilogy. Sowing Seeds in Danny (1908), The Second Chance (1910),
and Purple Springs follow the lives of the Watsons, a family of Irish
immigrants eking out a living in a small Prairie community. The motive
force informing each story is Pearl Watson, the eldest of the nine
Watson children and an engaging and admirable character, reminiscent of
that other much-loved Canadian fictional heroine, Anne of Green Gables.
The two share many of the same qualities of intelligence, wit, and
natural wisdom. As Purple Springs opens, the 18-year-old Pearl awaits
the arrival of the day (anticipated for three long years) when Dr. Clay
will propose marriage. Diagnosed with tuberculosis, the doctor
sacrifices his dream and hers. Pearl pursues a career as a teacher and
becomes active in the political sphere, advocating the rights of women.

Clothed in the raiment of a sentimental romance, Purple Springs provide
a powerful vehicle for McClung’s social and political commentary. With
anger, satire, humor, and compassion, the author documents and condemns
a worldview in which women were not considered persons. Purple Springs
offers the reader a gentle romance with sympathetic characters and a
happy ending. More important, it offers insights into a time in Canadian
history when the fight for women’s rights was just beginning; in its
pages we learn much about our past and about our champions.