A Real Somebody
June works in the typing pool of McAulay Advertising in downtown Montreal in 1947. Following WWII, her father is unable to find work, and June must support her parents. June is single and likes a McGill University law student, Jack, from Toronto. Since he’s also Catholic, their mothers are pleased. Her married elder sister Daisy is well off with two intelligent kids but remains aloof. June works diligently at her job and explores other avenues, such as copywriting, which were not accessible to women at that time. Then, June discovers a hidden side of her sister’s life, which is not all it is made out to be. This upends what June thought she knows about Daisy, and the revelation also makes her think about her own desires instead of living up to expectations. It seems that being a dutiful wife could mean something entirely different.
A former resident of Montreal, Deryn Collier mentions that she based this story on her great-aunt June’s life, gleaning details from her archives. June had worked for an advertising agency in Montreal and wrote stories and novels in her spare time, but they were not published. It was only following her retirement that the producers of a CBC radio show discovered her. Collier has fictionalized some of the events, including Daisy’s character, which indeed adds appeal to the novel. The novel takes us on an enjoyable tour of Montreal as it would have been in 1947, with original English street names that were later changed to French. The formal societal norms of those days are well displayed to transport readers to that era. June’s life, when she dared to enter the male world of copywriting, is fittingly recounted. The story is narrated aptly in June’s first-person voice—a pleasurable read.
