Book Review: Searching for Mayflowers by Lori McKay
Published: August 14, 2026
Searching for Mayflowers is a personal journey for the author Lori into discovering more details on Canada’s First Quintuplets. This journey was personal for Lori because it’s her family history- her great great grandmother is who delivered the babies back in February 1880. Her grandmother had told her the story as a child and it became a lifelong obsession.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Lori does an impressive level of research on this subject and didn’t shy away from a few side quests to better understand the people and the time that encapsulated this story. I’ve recently gotten into tracing my own family’s history as well, and while our pasts are very different (no oddities or curiosities on my sides) I feel that connection and curiosity that’s driving her to learn as much as she can.
My journey can be read here: Falling in Love with my Home Province of Nova Scotia
It’s not just about the quintuplets who end up perishing within hours of their birth, but also the Murray family as a whole, where women’s contributions and work stand in the history book and Lori’s journey to unlock the secrets of the past.
She starts the journey at the beginning with the Highland Clearances that originally brought her family here in the 1700 then we head into women’s rights and midwifery. She takes the time to tell her grandmother’s story within this book which fit very well within the entire multifaceted story.
Lori also dug deep into historical death practices and the fascinating curiosity that was Victorian era death photography (which I’m now obsessed with).
And of course, she dove deep into the history of multiple births and compared her family’s story to other famous cases like the Dionne quintuplets.
The biggest claim to fame in the story of the Murray Quintuplets was the fact that famous showman P.T Barnum offered a generous amount of money to purchase the itty bitty bodies for his show. The family declined the offer and with fear of other’s wanting to cash in, dug the babies up from the cemetery and buried them in a secret location. Lori digs (figuratively) deep to try to locate the final resting place of the quintuplets and while she made some impressive progress, their burial will remain a mystery for the rest of time.. Which is what the family wanted anyways.
The story ends with some impressive discoveries and a new found spotlight for the Murray name and the 5 little babies that came to be on that cold night in 1880.
Searching for Mayflowers is also a reminder to connect with your family while you still can. You never know what secrets your family could be holding onto that could be lost with them after they’re gone. For yourself, assuming you have a healthy relationship with your family, you will never regret spending ‘too much’ time with your family.
If you enjoy history, curiosities and local legends I recommend picking up this book. You won’t be disappointed.
I give this book 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. It came into my life at the perfect time and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
