due South story: "Open the World"

Oh YEAH. This is proof that even the most stubborn of WIP:s can be finished.

Title: Open the World
Relationships and characters: Martha Fraser gen, with Martha/George and female friendship.
Rating: PG-13
Length: 10,500 words
Summary: In 1921, Martha ran away from home to study at a teacher's college.

Notes: It takes a village, apparently. I first started this story two and a half years ago, and finished the first draft of the story during wrisomifu 2008, where I got a lot of encouragement. I want to thank akamine_chan for doing a thorough beta on the first draft. I rewrote and expanded the story during my first round of ficfinishing, where waltzforanight and innocentsmith were my first readers and cheerleaders. andeincascade beta-read the final draft and was generally her supportive and awesome self. Finally, suzumenoko and her colleague gave me valuable advice on Chinese culture.

I could not have written this story without the book Toronto's "Girl Problem": the Perils and Pleasures of the City 1880-1930 by Carolyn Strange. I found it while randomly browsing the women's studies section of the university library, and it turned out to be exactly what I needed. It was also quite interesting in its own right—it's about the lives of single women and the entry of women into the workforce. Obviously, any historical (or other) errors are my own.


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