THE STONE FRIGATE
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONTARIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY ALISON PRENTICE AWARD HONOURING THE BEST BOOK ON WOMEN’S HISTORY
Finalist for the 2020 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize in Nonfiction
#1 Bestseller on Amazon (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023)
Kate Armstrong was an ordinary young woman eager to leave an abusive childhood behind her when she became the first female cadet admitted to the Royal Military College of Canada. As she struggled for survival in the ultimate boys club, she called on her fierce and humorous spirit to push back against the whims of a domineering and patriarchal organization. Later in life, feeling unfulfilled in her post-military career, she realized that finding her true path forward meant she had to go back to the beginning and reclaim the truth of what she had experienced all those years ago.
Kate Armstrong worked as a military officer and an electricity trader before she fulfilled her dream of becoming a writer. She lives in Nelson, B.C.
PRAISE FOR
THE STONE FRIGATE:
“I loved The Stone Frigate. Indeed, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it is both incredibly engaging and moving. Armstrong deftly handles the tough and challenging moments (and there are many) as well as humorous ones. Great read from beginning-to-end. Also, the story is still so relevant today. Important—and difficult—themes throughout.”
-- Timothy Caulfield, Judge of the 2020 Kobo Emerging Writer Nonfiction Prize, is host of the celebrated Netflix series “A User’s Guide to Cheating Death’ and author of numerous works of nonfiction including, The Cure for Everything, Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything?, and his most recent book, The Vaccination Picture.
”I have read Kate's book and was horrified by her experience yet so very proud of her strength and perseverance. It was, in part, a failure of leadership. The top brass talks a good game when the cameras are present; however, true leadership is what happens when no one is there to see. I have read stories about cadets who, when called to task, simply called their senior officer parents in NDHQ to get the issues squashed. Moral courage is a rare beast within the confines of RMC it appears.”
-- Rick Mercer, Canadian comedian, television personality, political satirist and author of numerous works of nonfiction, including Final Report and The Road Years: A Memoir Continued...
“The Stone Frigate is a fascinating account of the true story of Kate Armstrong, the first female graduate from the esteemed Canadian Royal Military College. When she was accepted to the college, Kate was thrilled, both for the challenge and as a way to escape an abusive family. She is smart, and determined to succeed, no matter what. But she met a wall of resistance from the men, especially the Upperclassmen, who wanted the college to remain men only. Consequently, they did everything they could think of to make her fail. Upperclassmen held a lot of authority over the new cadets and could mete out punishment in the form of punitive late-night extra-exercise drills at their whim. Given the strenuous physical demands on the cadets to begin with, any extra drills were onerous, not just physically, but because they consumed time needed to study for classes. She was only 18, and had to develop a will of steel to survive, in a situation where she was essentially locked up with her harassers for four years. Her story is one of resolve and strength, all delivered with brutal honesty and humor.”
-- Terrance Gelenter, The PARIS Readers Circle
"The Stone Frigate is a harrowingly honest account of one woman's experience in the military. With unflinching wit and candour, Kate Armstrong forces us to look at the uncomfortable intersection between power and sexism and into the darkest corners of human nature. The result is an astonishing memoir. I couldn't put it down."
-- Alison Pick, Booker-nominated author of STRANGERS WITH THE SAME DREAM and BETWEEN GODS
“This is the moving, deeply immersive story of a woman's coming of age in 1960s and 70s Canada and at RMC in the 1980s--environments that worked in their different ways to flatten the spirits of the independent, the thoughtful, the creative, and the kind. One important takeaway here is that those times and places--distant, we like to think--still represent a relevant paradigm today. Every new cohort of girls still faces intense hazing as they run the gauntlet into womanhood--at which point a new kind of hazing begins. Yet this memoir is no sustained complaint but rather an act of bearing witness, and Kate Armstrong does so with a rich mixture of humour, drama, empathy, anger, gratitude, and vivid characterization, all conveyed in beautifully lucid prose.”
-- Steven Heighton, Governor General's Award winning author of The Waking Comes Late and Afterlands
"This personal account by one of the first women allowed into Kingston’s Royal Military College—Canada’s West Point—is compelling not only for detailing the obstacles stacked against women in the military, but for revealing just how deep the duplicity, misogyny and deception can run from cadets through to top brass. Kate Armstrong’s story will resonate with any woman who has fought upstream against the dysfunctional systems that keep our corporations and institutions in the hands of a brittle, fear-driven, and corrupt patriarchy. A compelling account of the obstacles stacked against women in the military by duplicitous and misogynistic men from cadets through to the top brass.”
-- Trevor Herriot, author of Towards a Prairie Atonement and Islands of Grass
“The Stone Frigate is the fascinating, often painful account of Kate Armstrong’s attempt to fit in, to excel, to become ‘one of the boys’ at the elite Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. Armstrong was in the first class to accept females in this male bastion. Her four years at the college were marked by sexism, humiliation, brutality, and courage. Armstrong is brutally honest, with herself—her failure to have compassion with other female classmates, her desperate need for male approval, her desire to become ‘just one of the guys’.
Armstrong experienced four long and difficult years. She graduated feeling herself to be a failure, unsuited for the path she had chosen. But this memoir is first and foremost a story of reconciliation, of learning to accept the past and realize that what she accomplished was extraordinary, especially in the face of so many who would have happily seen her fail.
Her experiences will resonate with all women who have, like Armstrong, attempted to fit into an exclusively male preserve. Her memoir is a convincing and moving read, one that everyone who has been alone in a misogynistic world will identify with.”
-- Roberta Rich, author of The Midwife of Venice, The Harem Midwife,and A Trial in Venice
“Kate Armstrong's voice in The Stone Frigate is shockingly honest with gut-wrenching details that makes one desperate to stop reading, but which also compels one to keep turning the pages because this story is too important to ignore. The Canadian military has slowly veered away from some of the misogynistic traditions held dear back then by the Royal Military College, which Kate describes so eloquently in her memoir. Sadly, others are still deeply entrenched in the male-dominated culture of this institution today. The damage is undeniable. It's time for a hard right.”
-- Major (retired) Sandra Perron, Globe and Mail Best Books author of Out Standing In The Field
"A great story is not simply something you read—you feel it. Right from the beginning, The Stone Frigate transported me. I was there in Kingston, Ontario, and amidst the cadence of boots and mess hall chatter, I really heard those male voices, all their different intonations of condescension and malice. For three hundred pages, my physiology was tied to whatever happened on the page—I felt a deep sense of empathy and anger which is only possible when an author is generous enough to share her experiences with authenticity and candour. This memoir is an important contribution to Canadian history/herstory and a reminder of how deeply ingrained certain types of power structures are, even today."
-- Leesa Dean, Trillium and Relit Award nominated author of Waiting for the Cyclone