Mary Leslie: The Journey of A Lost Canadian Author
This paper examines the life of a Canadian writer of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries named Mary Leslie who experienced moderate success as an author. Despite her numerous efforts to write and publish stories, she failed to gain a public readership and was almost entirely forgotten by history. Her single novel is impossible to find and is ignored by both literary and Canadian historians alike in spite of its unique depiction of mid-nineteenth century rural Ontario and its unconventional perspective of class, gender, and romance of her time. This paper follows Leslie’s transatlantic journey within the literary world to provide a perspective on the experiences of Canadian women, their barriers, and areas of opportunity that could have afforded them success. By drawing heavily on the analysis of archival material, including correspondence, financial records, published and unpublished manuscripts, a vibrant woman with a passion for storytelling is revealed.