The History of Emily Montague

Frances Brooke was an 18th century British novelist, playwright, essayist and translator. Under the pseudonym of "Mary Singleton, Spinster," she edited thirty-seven issues of her own weekly periodical, "Old Maid" (1755-1756). In 1769 she published "The History of Emily Montague." Although her time in Canada was brief her novel was considered to be the first novel written in Canada. The History of Emily Montague is a love story set in Quebec City. The early English-speaking inhabitants, the Québécois, and the Native people are all a part of her story. The time is the decade between Wolfe's victory on the Plains of Abraham in 1759 and the American War of Independence in the 1770s. The History of Emily Montague is written as a series of letters. " The History of Emily Montague has much to say about the confrontation between the old world and the "new", Huron and Iroquois culture; progressive gender roles in the development of a new colony; the innate indolence of Canadians; the weather; a