Born into the Heroic Age of the Bahá’í Faith, May Bolles and Sutherland Maxwell’s lives intertwined destined for service and sacrifice. From their separate Victorian childhoods through a chance encounter and courtship in Paris, they forged a partnership rooted in shared devotion. Their early pilgrimage experiences and the arrival of their daughter were soon followed by the momentous 1912 visit of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to their Montreal home, marking the Faith’s first North American flowering on the eve of global upheaval.

Through World War I’s uncertainties and the reception of the Divine Plan, the Maxwells steadfastly championed the nascent Bahá’í community. May emerged as an intimate confidante of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá—her presence deemed a spiritual balm—while Sutherland achieved architectural renown both in Canada and as designer of the Shrine of the Báb. Their daughter Mary would ultimately wed the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, embodying a lineage of excellence and laying foundations for the Formative Age. Meticulously drawn from over 3,000 unpublished letters, sketches, and memoirs, this chronicle illuminates a family whose love and labours shaped the Faith’s trajectory.