Christl Verduyn analyses Engel's work from a feminist literary perspective, examining Engel's concern with women's experiences and perception of the world, female identity and the social constraints on its development, female subjectivity and self, the mother-daughter relationship, and forces opposing women's artistic self-expression. Verduyn presents in-depth readings of both the novels and Engel's reflections on her experiences as a woman and a writer as found in her personal journals and other writings.

Verduyn demonstrates the extent to which Engel's work not only deserves to be ranked with the best of Canadian literature but also enriches our understanding of women's experiences and broadens our view of women's worlds. Lifelines makes an important contribution to Canadian literature, women's studies, and the growing genre of life writing.

Christl Verduyn is the author, editor, or co-editor of over a dozen volumes in the areas of Canadian and Québécois literatures, women’s writing and criticism, “multicultural” and life writing, and Canadian Studies. Before joining the faculty at Mount Allison University, where she is now Professor Emerita of English and Canadian Studies, Dr. Verduyn taught at Wilfrid Laurier University, where she chaired the Canadian Studies Program, and at Trent University, where she was Chair of Women’s Studies (1987-90) and Chair of Canadian Studies (1993-99). A past editor of the Journal of Canadian Studies, recipient of the Governor General’s International Award for Canadian Studies and of the Order of Canada (CM), she is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC) and a 3M National Teaching Fellow.

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"An excellent study of Engel's work. There is no other work even approaching it. As a work of literary criticism, it will stand as a model for critics needing to combine aspects of New Criticism, feminism, and postmodernism." Elspeth Cameron, English, University of Toronto.
"A unique contribution to scholarship on contemporary Canadian women writers and an important addition to our knowledge of Engel's work. Verduyn clearly shows the development of Engel's interests and technical skill, and demonstrates Engel's engagement with contemporary feminist ideas and Canadian criticism, allowing useful parallels to be drawn with contemporaries such as Laurence, Atwood, and Munro." Misao Dean, English, University of Victoria.