First, I would like to say I was incredibly lucky to be given the opportunity to read an advanced copy of The Quintland Sisters by Shelley Wood in exchange for an honest review. I knew I wanted to read this book because, though I didn’t mention it to anyone except some family members, I actually grew up incredibly close to where the Dionne quintuplets (Yvonne, Annette, Marie, Cecile, and Emilie) were born, the first quintuplets known to survive their infancy, and so I’ve heard about them in passing my entire life. This includes seeing the old log cabin that was the family’s home turned into a museum in its former location for many years on the ride to school in North Bay. The museum is not currently open, but it is supposed to reopen this year in a new location, and I hope to get the chance to visit it when I am visiting my parents. I also have driven many times on the highway built into a major highway (for the North) rather being kept as an old country road solely due to the tourism the Dionne quintuplets brought to the area.
But before I keep talking about all of that, I’d like to focus back on the book The Quintland Sisters and what I thought of this presentation of their story.
This book tells the story of the Dionne quintuplets’ birth and their first years of life through the eyes of a young, sometimes naïve woman named Emma Trimpany. Emma, as I gather, is a fictional character, but of course, many individuals featured in the story are not, including Dr. Dafoe. As I read the book, I noticed where the author has clearly done research and where she has taken some liberties or extrapolated based on limited information. While yes, this is historical fiction, I think as a whole The Quintland Sisters is a remarkable novel and does, even if some specifics had to be invented, adheres to the tone of what I already knew about the Dionne quintuplet sisters and their story, which is, unfortunately, not a great one. As the two surviving sisters will say, their childhood amounts to a lot of exploitation. In fact, just about every news article I have read points out it was all exploitation and the sisters often lament over what they lost, including a close familial connection with their other siblings and their parents.
It’s an interesting ride this book, just as the real story of the quintuplets is. The line between the “good” guys and the “bad” guys is not as clear you might think it would be, and I can guarantee your opinion on this will be different than what it was at the beginning of the book when you reach the end. I cannot say what your opinion will turn out to be, only that it won’t be the same, unless, of course, you are extremely well-informed about the Dionne quintuplet sisters and their story prior to reading the book. However, as stated I am quite familiar with their story and yet I still find my opinion changed as to who was “right,” “wrong,” and frankly if there even were sides like that aside from the obvious, the quintuplets being the most important thing.
Although as stated, this book is written from a fictional perspective, I think the strongest part of its story and its accuracy is actually the format. The diary entries, certainly, because I bet some nurses and other caregivers would have kept some notes or wrote letters about what was going on, but more specifically the real news articles and columns The Quintland Sisters displayed periodically throughout the book. The ones that aren’t real are clear, at least they were to me, but the ones that were in fact real just brought the story more authority and integrity in my mind. Thus, I think the specifics invented for the story became more logical, which I personally think is crucial in historical fiction.
There is a slightly unsettling part near to the end of the book. However, while I find it could be problematic to imply what it is implying, I also realize given the information actually out there about the real person implicated and about their story in relation to the quintuplets and what these sisters have said before, I am inclined to believe something of this nature could have occurred, though potentially not as extreme. You can message me about it should you wish to talk about this specific instance (you will know what it is when you read The Quintland Sisters) but I will not spoil it. I do think the ending does leave something to be desired, both in terms of wanting to hear more about the sisters as well as about Emma, but I realize the book did serve its ultimate purpose. I wouldn’t necessarily even want more, if only because I wouldn’t want this book to run the risk of going a little bit too far, similar to television series going one season too long.
Overall, I think The Quintland Sisters by Shelley Wood is a wonderfully written and thoroughly researched historical fiction book. I highly recommend it if you are even passingly interested in historical fiction, particularly if you are Canadian. I would also love to know what you think about the book and, if you have any questions about the Dionne quintuplets’ story or about the area in which they grew up, I would be happy to answer what I can in the comments below!
Side note, I was actually born in the North Bay hospital mentioned in the book. It appears to have been first built and opened in 1931, a few years before the quintuplets were born. It is no longer standing, having been demolished around 2012/2013.
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Title: The Quintland Sisters
Author: Shelley Wood
Publisher: William Morrow (imprint of HarperCollins Canada)
Walking The Forest Floor 