An advocate for veterans, a photographer, a writer, a suffragist, an opera singer. Five remarkable women who pushed boundaries and made a difference at the turn of the twentieth century. But history then was about men, and no one wrote about these women. Their stories faded from memory and then disappeared for decades. Here now are those stories.

May Furlong — Advocate for Veterans

Elsie Holloway — Photographer

Lydia Campbell — Writer

Armine Gosling — Suffragist

Georgina Stirling — Opera Singer

Five biographies detailing the ambition, intelligence, compassion, and grit they all shared. The obstacles they overcame, the tragedies they endured, the incredible success they achieved. Discover how May Furlong, Elsie Holloway, Lydia Campbell, Armine Gosling, and Georgina Stirling pressed against the social norms of a century ago and helped change life and attitudes in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Susan Chalker Browne is a writer living in St. John’s, Newfoundland. The Secret Life of a Funny Girl is her tenth book for children and her first young adult novel. Her other works include Goodness Gracious, Gulliver Mulligan; The Land of a Thousand Whales; and Freddy’s Day at the Races. Susan has won writing awards from the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters Awards, the Cuffer Prize, and the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia Writing Competition. She is married to Dennis Browne and they have four grown children.

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