Firing Lines - by Debbie Marshall (Paperback)

About the Book

The story and WWI reportage of Mary MacLeod Moore, Beatrice Nasmyth, and Elizabeth Montizambert. The three women reported from Britain and France during the First World War, for various Canadian publications. Their articles offer insightful, moving, funny, and compelling observations of a devastating conflict.

Book Synopsis

Read between the front lines: The stories of three Canadian female journalists stationed in England and France during the First World War.

Europe: 1914-18. Mary MacLeod Moore, a writer for Saturday Night Magazine, covered the war's impact on women, from the munitions factories to the kitchens of London's tenements. Beatrice Nasmyth, a writer for the Vancouver Province, managed the successful wartime political campaign of Canadian Roberta MacAdams and attended the Versailles Peace Conference as Premier Arthur Sifton's press secretary. Elizabeth Montizambert was in France during the war and witnessed the suffering of its people first-hand. She was often near the fighting, serving as a canteen worker and writing about her experiences for the Montreal Gazette.

The reportage from these three women presents an insightful, moving, funny, and compelling body of observations of a devastating conflict, from underrepresented points of view. Firing Lines is based on the letters, articles, and books they wrote, as well as the records of those who knew them. The book offers a fresh perspective on a war that touched nearly every Canadian family and changed our sense of ourselves as a nation.

Review Quotes

A beautiful, well-written tribute to three war correspondents who carved the way for female journalists to follow.-- "Vancouver Sun"

Marshall's research pulls back the curtain on an important WW1 story. Firing Lines is a worthy tribute to women who deserve to be remembered.-- "GreatWar100 Reads Blog"

About the Author

Debbie Marshall is a writer, editor, and playwright with a special interest in women and the First World War. Her work has appeared in anthologies such as Dropped Threads II and in magazines such as The Beaver, as well as other publications. She is the author of Give Your Other Vote to the Sister: A Woman's Journey into the Great War. She lives in Gabriola Island, British Columbia.