Review: A tough but Loving Lady
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 20, 2012
He called her `Hat' That Tough Little Lady by Myron C. McDonald takes the reader on a journey of small town life from a long gone era. This book is a sweet tribute to the life and times of "Hat", Myron McDonald's Grandmother Harriette  DePeele (later to become Harriette Bair). This biography was originally written by her grandson Myron C. McDonald and later transcribed, edited and adapted by Dorothy May Mercer."Hat" (as she was endearingly called family friends and some neighbors) was born in 1878 in Quebec. Later at the young and tender age of eight, she was taken to a convent in Detroit (by her father) where she was to be raised. In the book, she is described as a woman of small stature but that is where the "small" ends. Her biography details how Hat was a person that was bigger than life. No stranger to hard work from her trials and tribulations in the convent, she grew into a tough, strong and liberated woman, whose liberated attitude was well ahead of its time in those days.Her passionate demeanor and determination are attributes from her French ethnicity. Hat lived an interesting life, where she reigned unlimited by her petite size, and fortified by her strong personality and her physical strength. She was so strong for her size in fact that she was able to complete the daily task of milking six cows day and night by hand, and was able to effortlessly lift her own weight.This is a great read as it takes the reader to an era in time when life was uncomplicated and people had to work hard to maintain their lives and survive.  Not only will the reader learn a great deal about life at that time, they will be thoroughly entertained by the amusing tales of incidences and encounters lovingly depicted by her grandson. It is a truly engrossing and entertaining read, which will educate, make you laugh, think and cry.