by Sheila Baxter

This book is a collection of personal stories told to the author. The stories are very real and many women will be able to relate to them. The 50 women interviewed are very different, yet they are fighting the same kinds of battles. Group discussion will come naturally to women who are reading the stories together. They may also be able to work out some kinds of group action based on the actions described in the book.

What is perhaps most useful is the way in which the stories - and Sheila Baxter's writing around them - identify the issues so clearly. The very concrete nature of the writing not only makes the text easy to read. It also means that there is none of the usual academic "distancing" from women's lives.

The book includes stories from a social worker an a welfare advocate, as well as the texts of speeches from activists such as Dorothy O'Connell. There are many useful facts, figures and charts.

Some of the stories are four sentences long and are put on a page on their own. Some are four pages long. Almost all are readable at a basic to intermediate level, although the book as a whole may seem somewhat intimidating.

Overall, this book is an excellent example of some- thing produced for the "mainstream" that works very well within the context of literacy programs.

A review by the Halifax Working Group, Halifax, N.S.