AUTHOR’S NOTE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

One of the unfailing pleasures of research for me is discovering pieces of history I didn’t know about before. The Noble and Holy Order of Knights is one such example. A North American labour organization that numbered almost a million members at its peak, it had started to fade by the turn of the century but was still a force to be reckoned with. The aims and principles I have related in the book are those of the Knights. The workers strike in Ottawa did happen but not the injury that I have ascribed to one of my characters.

In 1895, the magnificent typewriting machine was becoming common, and a popular form of entertainment was the typewriting competitions. Miss Orr was indeed the champion of typewriters.

Unfortunately, what exists now existed then in terms of pornographic photographs and the misuse of children.

I never cease to be amazed and grateful that so many people are willing to share their time and expertise with me. Thank you especially to Gregory S. Kealey, who, together with Bryan D. Palmer, is the author of Dreaming of What Might Be, the story of the Knights of Labour in Ontario, and who took time to answer my questions. Maurice Farge was once again available for the finer points of Catholicism, and our wonderful neighbour, Tim O’Dacre, a firefighter, gave generously of his time to explain to me how fires behave. Jean Rajotte made a delicious pig’s feet stew for me, and Gail Hammer tested some of my ideas about photography.

Thank you to my editor, Dinah Forbes, for her perceptive comments and to my agent, Jane Chelius, for her unfailingly cheerful support.