Trailblazing Caledon author inspired by law career

By Rob Paul

When most people retire, they look for easygoing hobbies while spending time with their family.

Well, Suzanne Hillier isn't like most people.

The former divorce lawyer, who was known in Brampton as “the Barracuda,” now resides in Caledon and at 89 years old, has a new novel coming out on June 6. 

The novel is being published by feminist-focused Canadian publisher Inanna and is titled My Best Friend Was Angela Bennett.

It's a story of love, friendship, and survival set in Newfoundland during World War II and has been praised as a harrowing journey, engaging, and unforgettable while looking at how friendships endure through the most difficult of times.

Born and raised in Newfoundland, her father was the Attorney General of the Province for 22 years and she draws on some of her own life experiences in her writing.

After writing her first novella in the 1960s—it was published by Esquire—she only reignited her passion for writing 12 years ago, and her pro-feminist style in her new novel was influenced by her own journey.

After the sudden death of her husband, she became a lawyer in her late 30s and was one of just five women in a class of 150 people at the University of Toronto while raising her children.

She's lived a life of perseverance, only diving into the world of writing after beating a cancer diagnosis post-retirement. 

The story revolves around two best friends heading into their last year of a high school in Newfoundland in 1942. The titular character, Angela, falls in love with a soldier who loses his life in the war and, as a result, she marries a neighbourhood businessman and sexual sadist that subjects Angela to abuse. 

Given the history of women's rights, Hillier wanted to revisit a time where it was nearly impossible to get out of abusive relationships to show the growth in Canada since the 1940s, even citing her aunt's experiences of living with their family growing up after getting away from an abusive husband.

Alternatively, the other character, Dorothy, sets out on a journey to becoming the first woman on the island to become a lawyer and offers hope for those suffering from domestic abuse. 

“It's based in Newfoundland in the 1940s because I'm a Newfie and I was there, I remember World War II,” she said. “The novel is about friendships and relationships, and it follows this poor heroine after she loses her only true love and it unfortunately leads to her marrying the boy next door. It's about getting out of a marriage—which in Newfoundland was all but impossible, they didn't even have divorce until 1968. It's a woman's journey into hell and out. Then it follows the story of the first Newfie lady lawyer and that branches into another situation.”

It's not hard to see where the idea for the character of Dorothy came from with Hillier having spent years running Hillier and Hillier in Brampton—which still operates to this day.

“This is a feminist book,” she said. “I was one of the first woman lawyers in Ontario and it was tough building up a law practice in Brampton. A lot of this book is kind of inspired by things that have happened in my life. Angela brought her letters from her dead lover with her on her honeymoon, and that's actually something that happened to the woman who lived next door to me, and her husband found them.

“A lot of the things in the book—the deaths of the servicemen, the way we all felt about England, and the way we felt about joining Confederation—was real. I even have my dad in it, I dedicated the book to my dad. A lot of things in it were inspired by actual happenings. The sexual sadist is a conglomeration of all the bad husbands my clients had, he's not just one real person—he's the only character not inspired by a real person.”

Hillier's dive into the world of law was unconventional and it was never her first love; she always wanted to tell people's stories and after decades as a lawyer she's finally found that opportunity.

She travelled to Europe and went to the Caribbean, but never wanted to settle down and relax in her retirement, that's hoe she found her way back to her love of writing. 

“I practiced law for 32 years and people are born loving the law, but that wasn't me,” she said. “I didn't love the law; I loved my clients. I was very involved with my clients, and they made me appreciate it because when you're getting a divorce you really want someone to love you and be supportive.

“I found that I always wanted to write, but my husband died at 44 and I had three teenagers and I was teaching high school and we needed money. I thought I would do better financially in law, and it was more of a practical decision, but I did it because I really like people and enjoy helping them. After 32 years of burning myself out, I got a Leukemia diagnosis and thought, ‘Oh my god, I'm going to die, and I haven't written any of my books.' That's when I started to write and after 12 years, I'm still here. I've now written about eight books, and some of them aren't bad!”

Hillier's writing has been applauded by fellow Canadian authors for her ability as a storyteller and wittiness, while keeping a strong feminist focus.

“An unflinching, often searing, account of two women's lives and enduring friendship in Smallwood-era Newfoundland,” said Ed Riche, author of Rare Birds.

“With searing clarity and poignant insight, Suzanne Hillier takes readers deep into one woman's personal hell,” said Angie Abdou, author of the Canada Reads finalist, the Bone Cage. “My Best Friend Was Angela Bennett is a transformational exploration of abuse,

sadism, shame, entrapment, and injustice. This tragic account of why one woman stays sheds

light on the psychological and physical horrors of domestic violence. A truly harrowing journey.”