New Women for God: Canadian Presbyterian Women and India Missions, 1876-1914

Kamala S. Narayanan is Serials Librarian at the Douglas Library,
Queen’s University.

This book traces the involvement of Canadian Presbyterian women in the
foreign missionary movement during the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries.

Brouwer offers an in-depth look at the trials and tribulations of the
women who left their homes to serve God in far-off Central India. These
women possessed considerable spiritual and intellectual energies that
needed an outlet. Through women evangelists, the Gospel was expected to
spread faster into the Indian subcontinent. Missionary activities
included not only preaching but also nursing, teaching, dressmaking, and
other domestic work.

The emphasis on the exotic, adventurous, and romantic life in these
countries captured a great number of participants. Through foreign
missionary service, these women enjoyed great prestige and prominence.
Service provided them with a unique opportunity for power, as well as a
respectable escape from everyday life. It was an attractive option for
women who wanted to assert themselves without repudiating contemporary
social and religious ideas.

The author deserves credit for bringing together such widely dispersed
information. Although she did most of the research as part of her Ph.D.,
it was a mammoth task indeed. This volume may be the only authoritative
book on the Canadian Presbyterian women who served in India between 1876
and 1914.

The chapters are organized very broadly. At times what the author
wishes to relay is difficult to grasp, since the information seems
loosely arranged. However, the index will prove very useful. Brouwer
provides a select bibliography, which includes her Ph.D. thesis, and
several appendices—a collection of brief historical data on Canadian
Presbyterian missions abroad, including in India. Rare photographs give
a fascinating glimpse of these remarkable women.

There is no dearth of publications about men in evangelist missionary
work. On the other hand, publications about women’s experiences in the
missionary field are sorely lacking. The paucity of literature on the
subject enhances this book’s value.