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History General

Pauline

A Biography of Pauline Johnson

by (author) Betty Keller

Publisher
Formac Publishing Company Limited
Initial publish date
Nov 2015
Category
General, Literary, Native American
Recommended Age
14
Recommended Grade
9
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781459504080
    Publish Date
    Nov 2015
    List Price
    $22.95
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780887801518
    Publish Date
    Jan 1987
    List Price
    $9.95

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

Brought up in a strict and sheltered household, the daughter of a Mohawk chief and a non-native woman, Pauline Johnson struggled to make an independent life for herself.
She found it as a poet and performer whose dramatic recitals skirted the boundaries of what was acceptable to "respectable" Canadian society. Her performances took her from the backwoods of British Columbia's gold country to the drawing rooms of England. Onstage she assumed the role of an Indian princess, while in her personal life she observed Victorian moral strictures, all the while falling regularly and desperately into unrequited love.
Pauline is the fascinating story of a charismatic woman whose struggles with culture and identity still engage us today.

About the author

Editorial Reviews

"Reads like good fiction ... makes the reader feel the magic that drew people to Johnson."

Quill & Quire

"A wonderful book and superb biography."

Kitchener-Waterloo Record

Librarian Reviews

Pauline: A Biography of Pauline Johnson

Originally published in 1981, this reissued biography in the Goodread Biography/Canadian Lives series is intended as a more truthful and realistic account of Canadian poet and recitalist, Pauline Johnson. The author considers that many existing biographies present romanticized versions of her life. This very detailed account of Johnson’s life includes her family and cultural background, which provides a context for her more well-known “Indian Princess” performing image.

Keller’s other books include A Thoroughly Wicked Woman, Black Wolf: The Life of Ernest Thompson Seton and On the Shady Side: Vancouver 1886-1914. She is the recipient of The Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal and The Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada.

Source: The Association of Book Publishers of BC. Canadian Aboriginal Books for Schools. 2011-2012.