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The novel, which earned MacLennan the Canadian Governor General's Award for literature, was a sort of Catharsis for MacLennan, whose first wife Dorothy Duncan was dying as he wrote it. The female Protagonist , Catherine, who suffers from a Rheumatic heart, was inspired by MacLennan's wife. Another major character, Jerome Martell, is generally thought to have been inspired by Norman Bethune , a claim the author denied. Maclennan's biographer, Elspeth Cameron , points to F. R. Scott and Samuel MacLennan, the author's father, as models for Martell. One minor character, Huntly McQueen, was inspired by Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King .


TRIVIA


  • A passage from the book was adapted for use in the song "Courage" by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip .





REFERENCE

Brian Busby , ''Character Parts: Who's Really Who in Canlit'', Toronto: Knopf, 2003. p. 163-164, 171, 245. ISBN 0-676-97579-8