Kristin Michele Basso

Through My Mother's Eyes Kristin Michele Basso

The Gilmour family home in 1930's Toronto was a glamorous stage, where opera, travel and horses played leading roles, so it is no wonder that Shelagh (Vansittart), the eldest child born to her opera diva mother and war hero father, was predestined to think "outside the box." She left for Norway as a naïve war bride, but returned as a liberated single mother with two children to support and a burning desire to open her own import business-an unheard of idea for a woman of her time. Her iconic store, Shelagh's, soon set postwar Toronto's stuffy decor back on its heels. From the start, it was a huge success, and Shelagh used her business as a vehicle to explore the world and to introduce her customers to the concept of eclecticism in interior design and fashion, by bringing the world to their doorstep. Like her handsome father, she had a down to earth charisma that could light up a room, and men all over the world were drawn to her like bees round a honeypot. Shelagh lived and loved like a man-on her own terms. How she managed to juggle her career and travels, a second marriage to a dashing Englishman, four children, three homes, and a menagerie of horses and household pets was a wonder. But then so was my mother. Maybe she somehow knew that she wouldn't have time to grow old, so she grabbed onto each day with both hands, and taught me to do the same. This roving memoir, spanning three generations, is our family's story.