• Publishing
• Self-Publishing
• White Seahorse Classics
• About White Seahorse
• Contact Us
• Books we Reviewed
  

Mary Johnston

Mary Johnston (November 21, 1870 – May 9, 1936) was an American novelist and women's rights advocate from Virginia. She was one of America's best selling authors during her writing career and had three silent films adapted from her novels. Johnston's writing style is unusual but grows on the reader.

The daughter of an American Civil War soldier who became a successful lawyer, Mary Johnston was born in the small town of Buchanan, Virginia. A small and frail girl, she was educated at home by family and tutors. She grew up with a love of books and was financially independent enough to devote herself to writing.

Johnston wrote historical books and novels that often combined romance with history. Her first book Prisoners of Hope (1898) dealt with colonial times in Virginia as did her second novel To Have and to Hold (1900) and 1904's Sir Mortimer. The Goddess of Reason (1907) uses the theme of the French Revolution and in Lewis Rand (1908), the author portrayed political life at the dawn of the 19th century.

To Have and to Hold was serialized in the The Atlantic Monthly in 1899 and published in 1900 by Houghton Mifflin. The book proved enormously popular and was the bestselling novel in the United States in 1900. Johnston's next work titled Audrey was the 5th bestselling book in the U.S. in 1902, and Sir Mortimer serialized in the Harper's Monthly Magazine from November 1903 through April 1904 and published in 1904. Her best-selling 1911 novel on the American Civil War, The Long Roll, brought her into open conflict with Stonewall Jackson's widow, Mary Anna Jackson. Beyond her native America, Johnston's novels were also very popular in Canada and in England.

During her long career, in addition to twenty-three novels, Johnston wrote a number of short stories, one drama, and two long narrative poems. She used her fame to advocate women's rights, strongly supporting the women's suffrage movement.

Her book titled Hagar, considered to be one of the first feminist novels as well as somewhat autobiographical about Johnston herself, was published in 1913. Hagar captures the early days of women’s rights, as Johnston was very focused on female suffrage in the United States as demonstrated by her letters and correspondence with and from women working for the right to vote. But Hagar created a controversy among men and tradition-minded women, who were upset by the book’s progressive ideas. Many refused to purchase it, or subsequent Johnston novels.

White Seahorse Classics Titles by Mary Johnston

• 1492
• Audrey
• Cease Firing
• Hagar
• Lewis Road
• The Long Roll
• To Have and to Hold

Click here for more from White Seahorse Classics