About Cinda Gault

 I write Canadian historical fiction that brings courageous women to life—women who defy the limits placed on them and insist on choosing their own paths.

My interest in women’s lives is grounded in both lived experience and sustained scholarship. It began with a degree in Psychology from the University of Guelph and work supporting survivors of domestic violence, followed by service as a prison guard in an institution housing inmates convicted of sexual assault. These experiences shaped my acadmic path, leading to an M.A. in Criminology at the University of Toronto and, later, a return to the University of Guelph to pursue English and my dream to become a writer. I went on to complete a Ph.D. in English at York University, where my doctoral research focused on Canadian women’s writing during the identity years of 1965–1980.

Across my work as a novelist, teacher, and speaker, I return to the same questions: What does courage look like in everyday life? How do women navigate constraint without surrendering agency? And how do personal choices ripple outward into history? These questions shape both my fiction and my public conversations with readers, students, and audiences.

In my novels, history and imagination intertwine. Readers meet real figures such as sharpshooter Annie Oakley alongside fictional protagonist Abigail Peacock, Isobel Gunn—who disguised herself as a man to work for the Hudson’s Bay Company—Marie-Anne Gaboury, a pioneer on the Canadian prairies, and Belinda Pompey, who comes of age amid the upheavals of 1970s Canada. Together, these women—real and imagined—embody the independence and determination that shape lives.

In 2023, my focus on women’s stories became personal with the arrival of my two glorious granddaughters. Their presence continues to deepen my sense of continuity—of storytelling as a way to make sense of the past while casting light forward into the future.