Over the last several years, the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women has had the honour to help and support our friend Lynn MacNeill to create her memoir of surviving gender-based violence, Gold Cup Girl, which is now published as a book from Pownal Street Press.
Gold Cup Girl: A Memoir of
Surviving Gender-Based Violence
When Lynn MacNeill first shared her story of gender-based-violence, it rallied a community.
The first Circle of Safety and Support process to protect victims from harm formed around Lynn.
Now, she shares her extraordinary story of survival.
Gold Cup Girl is the story of the heartbreak of love, loss and grief—and celebrates the power to overcome. Set in and around the iconic Charlottetown Driving Park when harness racing was king, author Lynn MacNeill describes growing up in a horse-racing family where women’s proudest role is to wear the silks of a Gold Cup and Saucer Girl.
Through trauma in her teens that included the loss of both her parents, Lynn struggles to recreate a loving family of her own in the face of violence and heartaches. Protecting her children as she lives in vigilance of threats and the predators around her, Lynn must reckon with a justice system that can’t support her enough when terrible things happen—or prevent worse things from happening.
Gold Cup Girl illustrates the healing power of friendship, commitment, and trust to empower a survivor—and reveals the birth of the Circles of Safety & Support model, an approach that represents a paradigm shift in the landscape of gender-based violence.
Gold Cup Girl features a foreword by Kirstin Lund, a co-originator of Circles of Safety and Support, and an interview with Gloria Dennis, who has been the support person or facilitator for dozens of Circles and been involved in training other communities to develop Circles. The book is published as a legacy of Justice Options for Women, the non-profit that initiated the Circles of Safety and Support.
Circles of Safety and Support live on through PEI Family Violence Prevention Services to assist women at risk as a result of violence and abuse. Women’s Network PEI, who also supported the creation of Lynn’s book, continues Justice Options for Women’s commitment to support survivors of gender-based violence to gain access to justice and explore restorative and transformative solutions.
Lynn MacNeill in 2023.
Author Biography
Lynn MacNeill lives a quiet life in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, where she was born and raised. She loves spending time with her family and friends, especially her four grandsons. Her passions include women’s issues, horses, and dogs. She continues to advocate against violence against women and for mental health services and other supports for survivors.
Gold Cup Girl is not available for sale in stores, but you can order a copy from Family Violence Prevention Services using the following link: https://forms.gle/J4jMjojdMkcY8wJu9.
