Mrs. King: The Life and Times of Isabel Mackenzie King

Barbara Robertson is the author of Wilfrid Laurier: The Great
Conciliator and the co-author of The Well-Filled Cupboard.

This is a splendid biography of Isabel Mackenzie King, the youngest
child of William Lyon Mackenzie, and the mother of Mackenzie King,
longest-serving of Canadian prime ministers. Initially, it is hard to
believe there could be a genetic link between these men, for if
Mackenzie’s ambition was “to make waves,” Mackenzie King’s aim
was to pour oil on troubled waters. But there was something they had in
common and shared with Isabel: soaring ambition.

Isabel experienced a “childhood of hunger, poverty and confusion.”
The family lived in exile in the United States until 1849, when
Mackenzie was pardoned for his role in the rebellion of 1837. In
Toronto, life continued to be hard: Mackenzie was an agitator, not a
moneymaker. He did love his children, especially “when they were small
and cuddly,” and Isabel obliged by staying young as long as possible.
The charm and vivacity first called into play by her father lasted her
whole life, at least when she wanted to please.

Isabel grew up practical. She strove to rise within the existing
framework of society. Her marriage to a lawyer, John King, promised a
good future. Their four children were born between 1873 and 1878, and
the second-born, William Lyon Mackenzie King, became a star performer at
school. However, the great expectations entertained of John King’s
career steadily declined. The family lived on the brink of financial
catastrophe for years, until Mackenzie King was in a position to bail it
out.

Charlotte Gray is particularly good at describing the times in which
Isabel King lived. Domestic life was an endless round, even without the
sewing. (For those who could not afford dressmakers, there was much
sewing; Isabel and her daughters were proficient at this vital tool for
keeping up appearances.) Then there were the social conventions, the
elaborate rituals of mourning, the teas and at-homes. Isabel wanted to
move in the best circles, to keep up not merely with the Joneses, but
also with the Mulocks.

Women in 19th-century Canada were of major importance within the
family. They could be props or goads, and Isabel King was both. Her
father had achieved fame, but not security; her husband provided no more
than genteel poverty. Isabel thus turned her attentions to her son
“Willie,” who repaid her for her efforts. By the standards of her
time, she was a success. Her faults and virtues, and her difficult
times, are brought wonderfully alive in this biography.