Synopsis

Stephen Leacock recounts his growing up period in the small town of Mariposa, Ontario, located on the shores of Lake Wissanotti with its notoriously leaky holiday steamer. It is a town similar to many other small towns in Canada with its odd assortment of residents. He lived there with his parents Peter and Agnes Leacock, his older brother Charlie Leacock, and his two younger sisters Rose and Carrie Leacock. The family had difficulties making ends meet in Mariposa, due in large part to the continually drunken state of Peter, who oft visited the public house located in the town's hotel. As such, Josh Smith, the owner and operator of the hotel and public house, was the bane of Agnes' existence. She did whatever she could not only to shut down the public house and hotel, but also run Smith out of town. As the Leacocks took an extreme measure to earn money to survive, young Stephen had mixed allegiances as he felt that Smith could assist them with their dire financial situation while his mother worked to rid the town of who she believed was its major scourge.