In the book, the author chronicles the life of William Lyon Mackenzie's daughter; the mother of Canada's longest serving prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King.

Her son portrayed her as the "ideal woman, the epitome of motherhood and an angel of goodness and light."

His biographers have her portrayed as "an ambitious, grasping manipulator who pushed her eldest son into politics and then contrived to keep him a bachelor so that he could support the rest of his family.

"[2] Wilfrid Laurier University's Faculty of Arts panel called Mrs. King an "outstanding example of creative non-fiction", further stating, "Charlotte Gray has written a biography with the narrative power of a fine novel.

[4] This article about a biographical or autobiographical book on a Canadian politician is a stub.