A Toronto Star and Globe and Mail Bestseller! On an August afternoon in 1914, the Stephens family acknowledged what most Canadians knew: Canada was at war. They acknowledged it without knowing the innocence they would lose; the beleaguered state they would assume. Welcome to the world of Jessie Stephens, an inquisitive girl about to become a modern woman; her brother who vied for the Mann Cup in Vancouver and military victory in Greece; her sister whose chance for love was put asunder by bigotry. Written by the great-niece of the real-life Jessie, The Beleaguered follows the Stephens family at home in Brampton, to the war effort far beyond.