Queen of the Hurricanes: The Fearless Elsie MacGill

A Feminist History Society Book, Book 3

By: Crystal Sissons

Narrated by: Dawn Harvey

Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Elsie MacGill achieved many firsts in science and engineering at a time when women were considered to be inferior in the sciences. In 1923, at the age of 19, she became the first woman to attend engineering classes at the University of Toronto. She was the first woman in North America to hold a degree in aeronautical engineering and the first woman aircraft designer in the world. As chief engineer for the Canadian Car and Foundry Company, she oversaw the production of the Hawker Hurricane and designed a series of modifications to equip the plain for cold-weather flying. Her Maple Leaf trainer may still be the only plane ever to be completely designed by a woman. Elsie, a popular heroine of her time who inspired the comic book Queen of the Hurricanes in the 1940s, later became an influential feminist activist.

©2014 Crystal Sissons (P)2020 Second Story Press

review

all the references to footnotes is distracting to listening to the story. it slows down the flow of enjoying the book.

an Impressive Career

This is a biography of a most interesting woman, Elizabeth Muriel Gregory MacGill (1905-1980). She was the first woman to earn an aeronautical engineering degree and the first women to receive a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in Canada. She graduated from the University of Toronto.

She was born in Vancouver, B. C. Both her parents were attorneys. The women in her family were all feminists. On the personal side, she caught polio in 1929 and spent the rest of her life in a leg brace. She never let her disability hinder her. During WWII she did much to make Canada an aircraft construction & design powerhouse. She became an expert on the mass production of airplanes and published on the subject. She headed the production of Hawker Hurricane fighter planes. I found the life of MacGill fascinating. But what annoyed me about the book was the reading of all the footnotes and descriptions of the photographs. Most audiobooks do not read the footnotes nor describe photos, but listeners are referred to a website where they are available to view. The referral to the site was given in this book.

The book is twelve hours and six minutes. Dawn Harvey does a good job narrating the book (except reading footnotes; and, I assume that was the producers’ decision).Harvey is a Canadian actress, singer, voice-over artist. She has won an Earphone Award and the SOVAS Award for her audiobook narration. She also has a law degree.