Arley McNeney

There will be people who read this book who will think it is slow moving and nothing much happens. I feel sorry for those people because they will have failed to understand how finely crafted this book is.

Edie met Slim when he and many other men were about to head off on the On-to-Ottawa Trek in 1935. These men had been unemployed or else working in camps doing meaningless work. They decided to head to Ottawa to meet with Prime Minister Bennett and demand better conditions. The men rode on top of rail cars and made it as far as Regina. In Regina police attacked the Trekkers with guns and tear gas. Slim's lungs were damaged by the tear gas and he was arrested. When he was released he went back to New Westminster and Edie and Slim met again. Slim wooed Edie with stories from the Trek and they married. Slim worked in a series of mines in the interior of BC. Edie used to dress up like a man and go down into the mines when he worked. After five years Edie finally became pregnant and gave birth to Belly. Then she had to stay up on the surface and look after her child. Housing was scarce due to World War II and she, Slim and Belly lived in a tent for a long while. Slim tried to sign up for the war but because of his lungs he was refused. He started to drink and disappear for days. Finally Edie decides to leave him and go to her mother in New Westminster. She and Belly take the Kettle Valley Railway during a terrible winter storm. During the train ride Edie reflects on her life with Slim and the stories he used to tell and about her childhood. Belly occasionally provides his point of view.

It's a story of isolation, poverty, abandonment and survival. And it is a window into a little-known chapter in the history of Canada. I had vaguely heard about the On-to-Ottawa Trek but I didn't know that there was an ambush by the police. It is reminiscent of what happened in Winnipeg during the Winnipeg General Strike. There is now more information available about the Winnipeg General Strike but when I was in school studying Canadian history it was never mentioned. Nor was the Regina "Riot". And, of course, there have been more recent examples of police using force to disband peaceful protesters despite the enshrinement of civil liberties in our laws. History has to be remembered in order to be instructive to following generations. Arley McNeney has made this history chapter stand out for me.… (altro)