"A compelling book about a compelling judge by a compelling author. Claire L’Heureux Dubé is a bold, brilliant, and brave woman who transformed Canadian law. Constance Backhouse is also a bold, brilliant, and brave woman who has transformed Canadian legal history. This is a meeting between two giants, the ebullient and forceful Québec legal mind and the eminent Anglo-Canadian feminist scholar. I laughed, I cried, I debated, and I reflected. I read it in two days. So should you."
Nathalie Des Rosiers, MPP (Ottawa-Vanier) and professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
"This is a biography of one of Canada’s most fascinating Supreme Court justices, written by one of Canada’s most accomplished authors. It is beautiful, brilliant, transparent, subtle, and honest."
Kim Brooks, professor, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University
"Professor Backhouse has taken her legal expertise, stirred in prodigious amounts of research, added some spicy feminist analysis, iced the whole with her inimitable writing style, and served up a magnificent biography. For many English Canadians this detailed portrait will be an eye-opener, one that may well contribute to a greater understanding of Quebec history and culture through its comprehensive, intimate, and insightful portrait of Claire L’Heureux-Dubé herself. This book is a triumph."
Philip Girard, professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
"This book is a tour de force. Constance Backhouse has created a new genre, one that masterfully combines socio-legal history and riveting biography, giving insight not just into the life of an individual but also into Canadian history. In its weaving together of public and private events, this book makes visible the costs borne by those who were breaking paths ahead of their time."
Rebecca Johnson, professor, Faculty of Law, University of Victoria
