In 1948, divorced mother of four Stella McCandless--much to the horror of her straight-laced Victoria family--fell in love with and married several-years-younger (and several inches shorter) Bob Smith, a nomadic trapper and self-professed flaunter of convention. Being herself of a rebellious nature and craving release from the strictures of her traditional society lifestyle, Stella packed up her two younger children and followed Bob from Smithers to the Yukon and back to the Cariboo as he tried to find his fortune and settle into family life. Bob's sudden and untimely death in 1956 left Stella with their young son and the challenge of coming to terms with the loss of her 'north star.' Stella's is the story of a woman whose odyssey of independence led to the discovery of inner strength and the courage to live her life her own way.
Review by Eleanor Millard
October 30, 2011
Anyone who has used a honey bucket, had to get a vehicle towed out of the ditch on a muddy gravel highway, or married the 'wrong' person, will love Stella T. Jenkins' candid memoir, Wrong Highway. It is aptly subtitled The Misadventures of a Misplaced Society Girl and has all the makings of a tragicomedy film set in the forties and fifties. In the restless post-war world of British Columbia and the Yukon, a record by Ted Daffan depicted the author's life to her. In the song 'Headin' Down the Wrong Highway,' one line reflects a life where the singer has 'done too many things that I shouldn't do.' We are the richer for that journey. Stella Jenkins started down that wrong highway by marrying George McCandless, the 'right' man from her own traditional social class in Victoria who 'believed in all things British.' At thirty-two she found herself divorced with four children after fifteen years of marriage. It was at a time and place where a scandalized divorcee with children went back to her own parents' home to weep and remain dependent. Not so for Stella. She found a clerical job to survive in Victoria and soon, a man. The world was full of veterans from the Second World War 'adrift on the country' and one was Bob Smith, a bush wanderer who early on in their relationship walked from Teslin Lake to the BC coast over the Trail of 98 to Telegraph Creek. He was not only six years younger, but several inches shorter than the author, with a build like a wrestler and fiery red hair. She was hooked on his honesty and energetic love of life, an abrupt change from her Victoria family where she 'had to live inside a suit of armour.' Stella sneaked out of the armour for a Thanksgiving weekend with Bob and they began their life together 'up the railway line a little from Burns Lake' where he was trapping. So began a peripatetic journey for the couple, with and sometimes without the children, through the backwoods and small communities of northern BC and the Yukon, recorded in thick letters and journals by both Stella and Bob, fortunately for us. Bob 'collected old men like nuggets,' and Stella found work with many an odd personality. Stella's warmth and empathetic approach to people (including her ex-husband) makes for fascinating descriptions of many characters we can relate to. Anyone who has lived with the same lack of riches will appreciate the challenges in their various homes sprinkled throughout the book from Smithers
