Mary Chesley was born in 1847 in Dartmouth, NS, and lived her adult years in Lunenburg. A descendent of Quakers and a major figure in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Chesley worked tirelessly to ensure women voted. She also maintained an unwavering passion for the cause of peace. Her writings reveal a passionate, intelligent, and highly serious yet witty advocate of suffrage and peace with a keen understanding of political and social issues.

Her daughter Polly—herself highly intelligent and fiercely independent—would graduate from the London School of Economics and the Sorbonne, becoming an outspoken activist who was heavily involved with pacifist and leftist political and social groups in London in the 1920s. In 1934, Polly travelled to India to work toward the cause of Indian independence from colonial rule, where she developed a close personal relationship with Mahatma Gandhi.

In their day, both mother and daughter held prominence in activist causes, yet—primarily because they were women—they have largely disappeared from the historical record. Featuring twenty never-before-seen black-and-white images, Disruptive Women is not only their story but also the story of Sharon M. H. MacDonald's meticulous sleuthing to track down and bring to light these noteworthy forgotten figures.