Gwethalyn Graham (January 18, 1913 – November 25, 1965) was a Canadian writer and activist, whose 1944 novel ''

Earth and High Heaven ''Earth and High Heaven'' was a 1944 novel by Gwethalyn Graham. It was the first Canadian novel to reach number one on ''The New York Times'' bestseller list"Gwethalyn Graham: Two fiction awards won by Montrealer". ''The Globe and Mail'', Novemb ...

'' was the first Canadian book to reach number one on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list."Gwethalyn Graham: Two fiction awards won by Montrealer". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', November 26, 1965. Graham won the

Governor General's Award for English-language fiction The Governor General's Award for English-language fiction is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a fiction book written in English.Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

parents. Her father was a lawyer. At 19, she was a student at

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, but dropped out and eloped with John McNaught, the son of her father's business partner. They divorced after two years, and Graham moved to the city of

Westmount Westmount () is a city on the Island of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is an enclave of the city of Montreal, with a population of 19,658 as of the 2021 Canadian census. Westmount is home to schools, an arena, a pool, a public li ...

on the island of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, where she became a close friend and associate of

Hugh MacLennan John Hugh MacLennan (March 20, 1907 – November 9, 1990) was a Canadian writer and professor of English at McGill University. He won five Governor General's Awards and a Royal Bank Award. Family and childhood MacLennan was born in Glace B ...

F. R. Scott Francis Reginald Scott (1899–1985), commonly known as Frank Scott or F. R. Scott, was a lawyer, Canadian poet, intellectual, and constitutional scholar. He helped found the first Canadian social democratic party, the Co-operative Commonw ...

Thérèse Casgrain Marie Thérèse Casgrain (; 10 July 1896 – 3 November 1981) was a French-Canadian feminist, reformer, politician and senator. She was a leader in the fight for women's right to vote in the province of Quebec, as well as the first woman t ...

and

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

. Graham subsequently married David Yalden-Thomson, a

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

professor at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

; they subsequently also divorced. Graham's sister,

Isabel LeBourdais Isabel LeBourdais born Isabel Russel Erichsen-Brown (15 April 1909 – 2003) was a Canadian journalist and writer."ISABEL LeBOURDAIS 1909-2003: Her book said Truscott trial wrong". ''The Globe and Mail'', 14 April 2003. She is best known as the a ...

, was a journalist whose 1966 book ''

The Trial of Steven Truscott ''The Trial of Steven Truscott'' is a book written by Isabel LeBourdais, published in 1966, on the trial and conviction of Steven Truscott for the murder of Lynne Harper in 1959. The book "attacked the rapid police investigation and trial, calling ...

'' played a key role in disputing the evidence that led to

Steven Truscott Steven Murray Truscott (born January 18, 1945) is a Canadian man who, at age fourteen, was convicted and sentenced to death in 1959 for the rape and murder of classmate Lynne Harper. Truscott had been the last known person to see her alive. He wa ...

's controversial murder conviction, and her brother John Erichsen-Brown was a diplomat with the Canadian Department of External Affairs.

Career

She wrote two abandoned early novels before completing ''Swiss Sonata'', which was published in 1938. Graham was also an outspoken activist against

anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

and anti-

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

discrimination; ''Earth and High Heaven'' depicted an

interfaith Interfaith (also called "interreligion") may refer to various ways of relating between beliefs, creeds, ideologies, faiths, or religions: * Interfaith conflict (disambiguation) * Interfaith dialogue, also known as interfaith cooperation * Interfai ...

romance between a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

woman from

and a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

man from

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on p ...

. The novel was optioned by

Samuel Goldwyn Samuel Goldwyn (; born Szmuel Gelbfisz; ; July 1879 (most likely; claimed to be August 27, 1882) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer and pioneer in the American film industry, who produce ...

for a film that was to star

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress whose Katharine Hepburn on screen and stage, career as a Golden Age of Hollywood, Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades. She was known for her headstrong ...

; however, the film was never made, as Goldwyn abandoned the project after the similarly themed ''

Gentleman's Agreement ''Gentleman's Agreement'' is a 1947 American drama film based on Laura Z. Hobson's best-selling 1947 novel of the same title. The film is about a journalist (played by Gregory Peck) who pretends to be Jewish to research an exposé on the wid ...

'' came out while ''Earth and High Heaven'' was still in development. Graham's only published book after ''Earth and High Heaven'' was ''Dear Enemies'', a non-fiction collection of her correspondence with journalist Solange Chaput-Rolland about English-French relations in Canada. She had postponed her planned third novel to work on the book. She also wrote a theatrical play, ''Trouble at Weti'', and radio plays for

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

, and translated works by writers from Quebec, most notably

André Laurendeau Joseph-Edmond-André Laurendeau (; March 21, 1912 – June 1, 1968) was a journalist, politician, co-chair of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, and playwright in Quebec, Canada. He is usually referred to as André Laur ...

's play ''Two Terrible Women (Deux femmes terribles)'', into English. Graham died in 1965 of an undiagnosed brain tumour, aged 52. Her illness and death resulted in the cancellation of a planned sequel to ''Dear Enemies''. Both ''Swiss Sonata'' and ''Earth and High Heaven'' were reissued by

Cormorant Books Cormorant Books Inc is a Canadian person. book publishing company."Two house ...

in 2004."Romeo and Juliet in Westmount". ''

'', March 13, 2004. Graham is the subject of a biography, ''Gwethalyn Graham: a Liberated Woman in a Conventional Age'', by Barbara Meadowcroft (Toronto: Women's Press, 2008).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Gwethalyn 1913 births 1965 deaths 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Activists from Toronto Canadian anti-racism activists Smith College alumni Novelists from Toronto Governor General's Award–winning fiction writers Neurological disease deaths in Canada Deaths from brain cancer in Canada Canadian women novelists Canadian women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian women writers Canadian women activists Canadian women non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian translators