Frances Brooke - The History Of Emily Montague Volume One: Letters 37 - 42
Channel: Books: Volume Two
Date: 25/03/2024

THE HISTORY OF EMILY MONTAGUE: VOLUME ONE.....
The novel takes place ten  years after the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759 when Quebec becomes a British colony. Written as a collection of letters, the story follows the relationships between Edward Rivers (a British soldier), his friend, John Temple (rather a cad), Emily Montague (a young British woman), and her dearest friend, Arabella Fermor (a flirtatious drama queen). Giving glimpses into the new frontier discoveries of Canada, one not only peeks into the personal relationships of these characters but gets swept away by the enticing descriptions of the "new world.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY.....
Frances Brooke, née Moore (January 12, 1724 – January 23, 1789) was an English novelist, essayist, playwright and translator. Hers was the first English novel known to have been written in Canada. Frances Moore was born in Claypole, Lincolnshire, England, the daughter of a clergyman. She was only three years old when her father died. Her mother's death followed soon after.

By the late 1740s, she had moved to London, where she embarked on her career as a poet and playwright. She did not drew attention until she published her essay serial The Old Maid. Under the pseudonym of Mary Singleton, Spinster, she edited thirty seven issues of this weekly periodical (1755–1756), which was patterned after The Spectator. In 1756 she married Rev. Dr John Brooke, rector at Colney, Norfolk. The following year he left for Canada as a military chaplain while his wife remained in England. In 1763 she wrote her first novel, The History of Lady Julia Mandeville. In the same year Brooke sailed to Quebec, Canada to join her husband, who was then chaplain to the British garrison there. In autumn 1768 she returned to London, where she continued her writing.

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