The Press., 1894-09-06
Number 23.
(For The Press) SARAH GRAND, THE LATEST BRITISH WOMAN AUTHOR.

(For The Press.)
 SARAH GRAND, THE LATEST
 BRITISH WOMAN AUTHOR.
 Sarah Grand is of English parentage. Through her fathers family she has a trace of French blood. On her mothers side she is altogether of north-country stock. She is of Quaker descent on both sides. Her maternal grandfather was turned out of the Society of Friends be- cause he would hunt. She was born in Ireland, where her father happened to be quartered in command of naval station. He died when she was years old; and from that time she lived amongst her mothers people in Yorkshire until well into her teens. Her brother followed the family tradition and went inIo the royal navy.
 Sarah Grand inherits her literary and artistic tastes from both parents. Her mother was highly cultivated woman, and Sarah Grand's own early taste for books was undoubtedly due to her moth- CTS influence. During her childhood Sa- rah Grand seems to have had no very regular instruction, but was allowed to run pretty wild, living an out door, breezy life in the sea-coast town, or boring over books in her mothers library. Her read ing was entirely unrestricted. She says herself that she was brought up princi- pally on Punch and The Saturday Review.
 Not only had she this early love of lit erature, but when quite child she felt the impulse to express her own ideas The probability is that her early efforts met with scant encouragement, or even more probably the tendency was looked on with small favor, or at most with amused contempt by those about her; for the writing child is as often as not driven back upon herself for lack of other outlet to record her ideas. Or it may be that her natural shyness in speech drove her to write down her thoughts. At any rate, we find the child falling back upon herself at an early period, and noting her According to family tradi- tion, there was no time, once she had learned to write, when she did not keep a notebook, in which she scribbled down her observations on men and women, and passed judgments upon the sentiments and ideas she heard and the books she read.
 At sixteen she left school, and almost immediately afterwards she married. Her husband was an officer in the army, and soon after their marriage she accompa- nied him to the east, through Malta, Egypt and Ceylon to China and Japan In those days of travel she wrote much verse; for to write verse was always a delight to her, lifting, as no other form of expression could lift it, the sense of dumb ness from her soul. Amongst whatever people she went she discovered for herself the same human nature, only clad in different manner.
 It is often asserted that an artist has had no particular schooling in his craft. But generally this very artist has had the severest schooling-the training which leads to what the French call making schooP-the long and tedious toll of This was Sarah Grand's case. No sooner was she married than she set to work alone to repair the de- fects of her education. Her notebooks testify to the extent of her reading and the thoroughness of her apprenticeship to letters.
 Almost before she was out of her teens she had written novels on customary lines, which she wisely never attempted to publish, and most of which she destroy ed. She first endeavored to publish ar -icles and short stories, but everything was rejected, until at last, thoroughly she appealed to Annie keary, who read some of her efforts, and strongly advised her to persevere, and to 5ry Aunt Judy's Magazine with one of her stories; but, before doing so, doubtless mpelled by the mystic strain which is oerceptible trait in her nature, Sarah irand put the matter to the ordeal. She ,ook down Bible and opening it at haz- lrd she read: The stone which the builders refused is become the headstone 'f the corner She accepted the token. In due time the story appeared annony- nously. It was modest start for one to hold distinguished place Lmong the writers of her day. She felt hat life had said so much to her that would interest other women; she felt she | lad message to deliver, and putting | side, as have said, her early attempts | long the beaten paths of fiction, she set o work to give form to series of books 0 be treated on lines of her own planning. md thus it was that she came to create he first of her studies from life, Ideala.'
 'Ideala' was finished in 1883. It was ent the round of the publishers, by all of 7hom it was rejected. The tone of su- eriority affected by some of them, as I ip through those grim letters of refusal, cad in the light of to-day like the lines farce. Sarah Grand finally sent 1t to lr. George Allen, of Orpington, MT. Rus in's publisher, and asked him if he would |
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