Miss Confederation

Anne McDonald is an award-winning author. Her novel To the Edge of the Sea won the Saskatchewan First Book Award. Her play Lullabies and Cautions was recently showcased at the 2016 Spring Festival of New Plays. Her work has appeared in literary journals, Canada’s History, and on CBC Radio. Anne teaches theatre and creative writing. She lives in Regina, Saskatchewan.

• Foreword by Christopher MoorePrefaceOne Miss Confederation, Mercy Anne ColesTwo Charlottetown: The Circus, Champagne, and UnionThree The Journey Begins: The Lure of Travel, the New — and Leonard TilleyFour From the Sublime to the Ridiculous: the “Failed,” the Grand Success, or the Drunken Fiasco of the Government BallFiveDiphtheriaSixThe Temptation of John A. MacdonaldSevenWhat She Said –— A Woman’s Point of ViewEightMontreal Sightseeing and the “Eighth Wonder of the World”NineOttawa the UnseemlyTenSightseeing in Toronto, 1864 StyleElevenNiagara Falls TwelveFamily and TravelThirteenGoing HomeFourteenConfederation SuitorsFifteenDaughters and FathersConclusionAcknowledgementsAppendix“Reminiscences of Confederation Days:Extracts from a Diary Kept by Miss MercyA. Coles When She Accompanied HerFather, the Late Hon. George Coles, tothe Confederation Conferences at Quebec,Montreal and Ottawa in 1864.”Notes on SourcesNotesBibliographyImage CreditsIndex

McDonald’s finely crafted and nuanced history book rises above the crescendo of flag-waving nationalism. It adds a completely new dimension to our nation-making experience — a unique woman’s perspective which will stand the test of time.