"But Gail – Gail is different. This normally misogynistic country fell for a woman who, on the face of it, did nothing more than look good and support her husband in public during a time of great adversity. Some of the extraordinary impact she made can be explained away; the rest begs a deeper explanation. Just what was it that made women everywhere admire her; and men everywhere wish they were married to her? Fundamentally, the answer lay in her remarkable demonstration of strength: the raw courage that allowed her to hold up her head and rise above the undeniable squalor of the trial.
Strength like that is inspirational. In a world grown cynical, judgmental and yet lacking in confidence, Gail's self-belief, her positivism, appeared to sweep the Court of Session off its feet. But strength like that also has historical resonance. There was something magnificently old fashioned in the values she invoked: the rectitude of standing up for your man and your family. She embodied age-old matriarchal power. She implied we should listen to a moral woman if we wanted wisdom. And yet she also came across as decidedly modern: a feisty feminist, a successful career woman and mother who made it clear she would not tolerate any man who deceived her. Her values in a marriage, as she displayed them, were generally those of most of us: trust, monogamy, equality, independence.
Perhaps the secret of her appeal is this: everyone needs a Gail Sheridan in their lives – as a mother, sister, partner or friend – but not everyone is lucky enough to have one. Everyone, subconsciously, wants to be believed in. Everyone wants a fearless gatekeeper, a tender lover and a generous friend rolled into one. Everyone craves to have on their side someone as bold, loyal, funny and sincere as Gail."
While Mrs Sheridan is admirable in many ways, do we need this hagiography? Has Ms Reid never heard of journalistic detachment?
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