Margaret Marshall Saunders CBE (May 13, 1861–February 15, 1947) was a Canadian author.
Saunders was born in the village of Milton, Queens County, Nova Scotia. She spent most of her childhood in Berwick, Nova Scotia where her father served as Baptist minister.[1]. Saunders is most famous for her novel Beautiful Joe. It is a story narrated by a dog who has had a difficult puppyhood with many obstacles including a cruel owner. When the book was published in 1894, both it and its subject received worldwide attention. It was the first Canadian book to sell over a million copies, and by the late 1930s had sold over seven million copies worldwide.
In 1934, Saunders was made a Commander of the British Empire (C.B.E.), at the time her country's highest civilian honor. Together with fellow Canadian author, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Saunders co-founded the Maritime branch of the Canadian Women's Press Club.
Following the success of Beautiful Joe, Saunders wrote more than twenty other stories, a number of which provided social commentary on such things as the abolition of child labor, slum clearance, and the improvement of playground facilities.
Saunders died in 1947 in Toronto, Ontario where she had lived for a number of years.
Bibliography
- My Spanish Sailor (1889)
- Beautiful Joe (1894)
- Charles and His Lamb (1895)
- For the Other Boy's Sake, and Other Stories (1896)
- The House of Armour (1897)
- The King of the Park (1897)
- Deficient Saints (1899)
- For His Country (1900)
- Her Sailor (1900)
- Tilda Jane, An Orphan In Search of a Home (1901)
- Beautiful Joe's Paradise (1902)
- Nita, the Story of an Irish Setter (1904)
- The Story of Gravelys (1904)
- Princess Sukey; The Story of a Pigeon and Her Human Friends (1905)
- The Story of an Eskimo Dog (1906)
- My Pets (1908)
- Tilda Jane's Orphans (1909)
- The Girl from Vermont (1910)
- Pussy Black-Face (1913)
- Boy, the Wandering Dog (1916)
- Golden Dicky (1919)
- Bonnie Prince Fetlar (1920)
- Jimmy Gold-Coast (1924)
- Esther de Warren (1927)
References
- ^ "Forgotten Author was Faithful Friend to All Animals", Kelly Regan, Halifax Chronicle Herald - The Nova Scotian, Sun. Feb. 10, p.5
External links
Beautiful Joe Website - Meaford, Ontario, Canada The Beautiful Joe Heritage Society was formed in 1994 to celebrate the life and story of Beautiful Joe and the achievements of Margaret Marshall Saunders. Beautiful Joe Website & Park in Meaford, Ontario, Canada[1]