Prize Women set in Toronto – Caroline Lea

Submitted: 2nd June 2023

Do you want a novel by a top author inspired by one of the most bizarre stories of all time? Prize Women is about the Stork Derby. NOTHING to do with horse racing of any kind. This was a time in 1926 when a millionaire died and he wanted to leave his money to the women or women who had the most children in a ten year period.

In the hands of Caroline Lea, I was excited to be going into a wonderful immersive reading experience recreating that time and examining the women who went through it. I was not disappointed!

BookTrail Travel to Prize Women

Boarding Pass Information: Toronto

Author guide: Caroline Lea

Genre: historical fiction inspired by a real event

Food and drink to accompany: anything to help with a pregnancy!

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BookTrail Travel to Prize Women

My bookish radar pinged when this book came on my radar. I took my time with it as I loved Caroline’s other books and I was intrigued about the story.

You might think The Stork Derby is a bizarre type of horse race but no – I read about this in Canada – it doesn’t seem to be widely known outside of the country – a millionaire who died in 1926 and left a very bizaare stipend in his will. He asked that money be given to the women women who had the most children over a ten year period.

Caroline not only takes this story but weaves in a whole other one – how two women were torn apart by this ‘race’, controlled by their husbands and society, held in low regard by the media and hounded by everyone else. As for the (male) millionaire who started this thing in the first place? Well he was white and rich and male so what do you think?

Caroline takes two very different women and gives them a voice in telling this story. It was a male-dominated story, a media phenonmenon yet Caroline makes it all about the women caught up in it all. Very clever. We meet Lily and Mae and I instantly wanted to know more. They are two of the most captivating and complex characters I have ever read about, stuck in an impossible situtation. Spiralling into an even worse one. The black holes they are in get deepeer and darker whilst the great media headlines sparkle and hide the darkness behind.

BookTrail Travel to Prize Women

The furore around the Stork Derby hovers in the background and these women, representative of so many, takes centre stage. Imagine how you would feel if the pressure to have as many children as possible was thrust upon you? How your life depended on it and that of your children/ How the money would save you in more ways than one, if the constant pregnancies and stillbirths did not.

This is a heartbreaking story but it it filled with hope and light. I read with my heart in my mouth and butterflies in my stomach. Oh this is so moving!

It is also sadly highly relevant today with all the headlines and controversy about motherhood, women’s rights and bodily autonomy, particularly in the USA.

Never mind the media headlines – read this and get the real story. Caroline Lea is a master of suspense, great writing and heartfelt prose who gives a voice to women who history has forgotten but who will form our future.