Aleta Dey

June M. Blurton is a retired speech/language pathologist.

Aleta Day is a reissue of an autobiographical novel originally published
in 1919. Set in Winnipeg in the early 1900s, it introduces two main
characters. McNair, a Scottish immigrant and alcoholic, is conventional
in his thinking about woman’s place in society, and later supports the
war effort against Germany to the extent that he enlists. Aleta Day, on
the other hand, actively works for woman’s suffrage and takes a strong
stand against the brutality of World War I.

Their love story forms the background for discussions of the issues of
the day. These discussions are generally in the form of dialogue between
McNair and Aleta, and to modern ears it is stilted, exaggerated, and
politically incorrect. For example, McNair and his adopted son
continually refer to Aleta as “little woman”; there are innumerable
descriptions of McNair’s huge hands covering Aleta’s little ones;
and Aleta, when confronted with her sweetheart’s alcoholism declares,
over several pages, that drunkenness in Canada is found only among
immigrants from Europe.

Details such as the bed-sitting room with a coal fire are interesting,
but this is not a book that is likely to appeal to a wide range of
readers.