Focusing on two twentieth-century Canadian female authors of distinct cultural and linguistic backgrounds, this book addresses the central role they each give to Canadian history. By assessing the ways in which each author attempts to "re-write" Canadian history in order to create a specifically female historical space, Elodie Rousselot shows that both Margaret Atwood and Anne Hébert have successfully given a voice to traditionally oppressed female figures. Elodie Rousselot's analysis focuses on Margaret Atwood's The Journals of Susanna Moodie and Grace, an unpublished play, as well as on her novel Alias Grace. She also examines Anne Hébert's novel, Kamouraska, and two plays: La Cage and L'Île de la Demoiselle. Finally, Anne Hébert's success in establishing a Quebecois "herstory" is assessed through the analysis of her 1988 novel Le Premier Jardin.