Author: Stephen R. Connor

1Glengarry School Days

By Ralph Connor

With international book sales in the millions, Ralph Connor was the best-known Canadian novelist of the first two decades of the Twentieth Century. Glengarry School Days (1902), hugely popular in its time, is based on his memories of growing up in rural Ontario around the time of Canadian confederation. Although Connor saw himself as writing moral fiction for adults, generations of younger readers have also enjoyed these affectionate and gently amusing sketches, and excerpts from Glengarry School Days have appeared in school anthologies. (Summary by Bruce Pirie)

2Man from Glengarry

By Ralph Connor

With international book sales in the millions, Ralph Connor was the best-known Canadian novelist of the first two decades of the Twentieth Century. The Man from Glengarry was his most popular and accomplished work. Immediately after its publication in 1901, the novel spent several months in the top ranks of the New York Times "Books in Demand" list.<br><br>We follow the story of Ranald Macdonald, who is shaped by family and community in rural eastern Ontario in the early decades after Canadian confederation. This is a book about the making of men, but also, ultimately, about the making of a nation, as the mature Ranald moves west to take a leadership role in the fledgling province of British Columbia.<br><br>The Man from Glengarry features adventure and romance, and is, above all, a work of serious moral purpose. "Ralph Connor" was the pen-name of the Reverend Charles Gordon, a prominent Canadian minister, and his stories are woven through with his religious convictions. His is a two-fisted Christianity — or, as he said in his autobiography, a religion that can appeal to "red-blooded" people who aren't afraid to engage in physical conflict for causes that they know are right. (Summary by Bruce Pirie)

3Corporal Cameron of the North West Mounted Police - A Tale of the Macleod Trail

By Ralph Connor

Cameron, a young man from Edinburgh, is a university student who is a rising star on the football team. When the big day comes and he nearly fails his team, he doubts he'll ever be good for anything ever again. Things soon take a turn downward and Cameron is forced to face the fact that his only option may be leaving all he's ever known and going to Canada for a new start. Summary by Adele de Pignerolles