Stone Frigate

A memoir from the first female cadet admitted to the Royal Military College of Canada.

Kate Armstrong was an ordinary young woman eager to leave an abusive family when she became the first female cadet admitted to Canada’s Royal Military College. As she struggled for survival in the ultimate boys club, she called on her fierce and humourous spirit to push back against the whims of a domineering and patriarchal organization. Then, feeling unfulfilled in her post-military career, she came to realize that her true path forward was to go back to the beginning and reclaim the truth of what she had experienced all those years ago.

Told in novelistic prose, this striking memoir captures the terror and excitement of a young woman forging ahead through sheer force of will. Harrowing and at times funny, her story offers hope that we can find better ways of rising above sexism.