Listen free for 30 days

  • Two Firsts

  • Bertha Wilson and Claire L'Heureux Dubé at the Supreme Court of Canada (A Feminist History Society, Book 9)
  • Written by: Constance Backhouse
  • Narrated by: Annelise Noronha
  • Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
  • 3.8 out of 5 stars (4 ratings)

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Two Firsts cover art

Two Firsts

Written by: Constance Backhouse
Narrated by: Annelise Noronha
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $28.27

Buy Now for $28.27

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

Bertha Wilson and Claire L’Heureux-Dubé were the first women judges on the Supreme Court of Canada. Their 1980s judicial appointments delighted feminists and shocked the legal establishment. Polar opposites in background and temperament, the two faced many identical challenges.

Constance Backhouse’s compelling narrative explores the sexist roadblocks both women faced in education, law practice, and in the courts. She profiles their different ways of coping, their landmark decisions for women’s rights, and their less stellar records on race. To explore the lives and careers of these two path-breaking women is to venture into a world of legal sexism from a past era. The question becomes, how much of that sexism has been relegated to the bins of history, and how much continues?

©2019 Constance Backhouse (P)2020 Second Story Press

What listeners say about Two Firsts

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Important Canadian history

Very important firsts for Canadian women here!
I thought the approach was interesting, to tell the stories of the two women together, weaving both into each chapter. I thought it worked.
One odd thing about the audio is that the chronology was read before the first chapter. I almost bailed on listening to the book because I thought this was what the whole book would sound like (it should have been at the end)…. keep listening, it gets better.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Poor editorial decisions mar the audiobook

This book was a struggle. For reasons that escape me, the reader announces every endnote, and describes every photograph. The recording even included a description of an organization chart of the Canadian court system. If I wanted these, I could have read the book. If the photographs were so crucial, they could have been included in a PDF. Oddly, after announcing each endnote in the text, the actual notes are all recorded together in a separate 3 1/2 hour chapter. What a waste of time. As a result, the listener is forced to listen to a choppy and distracting production. I had been looking forward to a good book about two important Canadians, but poor editorial decisions have marred this production.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!