Caroline Atwater Mason

Caroline Atwater Mason (July 10, 1853 – May 2, 1939) was an American novelist and travel writer.

Caroline Atwater Mason
Mason circa 1898
BornJuly 19, 1853 Edit this on Wikidata
Providence Edit this on Wikidata
DiedMay 2, 1939 Edit this on Wikidata (aged 85)
Danvers Edit this on Wikidata

Life

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Caroline Atwater was born on July 10, 1853, in Providence, Rhode Island, to Mary Weaver and Stephen Atwater.[1] She was educated at the Friends Boarding School in Providence and studied in Germany for one year.[1] On May 29, 1877, she married John H. Mason, a clergyman who taught at Rochester Theological Seminary.[1]

She conducted research at the British Museum Reading Room and the Royal Library of the Netherlands.[1]

Mason opposed suffrage for women and was a member of the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage.[1]

She died on May 2, 1939, in Danvers, Massachusetts.[2]

Work

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A Lily of France (1901), described as Mason's "best known story",[3] is a historical novel about Charlotte of Bourbon and William the Silent set largely in a 16th-century convent.[3] A review in the Chicago Tribune described it as a "sweet love story" with themes of religious liberty.[4] Holt of Heathfield (1904) is "a quiet recital of a young minister's life in a factory town".[5]

The Binding of the Strong (1909) is a love story based the romance of a woman of the last name Davis (whose first name is apparently lost to history) and John Milton.[6][7] The Spell of Italy (1910) is a lightly fictionalized account of travels throughout Italy.[8] The Spell of France (1912) is a similar travel narrative about France.[9]

Publications

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  • A Wind Flower[4]
  • The Quiet King[4]
  • A Minister of the World (1895)[4][10]
  • A Minister of Carthage (1899)[10]
  • A Lily of France (1901)[4]
  • Holt of Heathfield (1904)[5]
  • The Binding of the Strong (1909)[6]
  • The Spell of Italy (1910)[8]
  • The Spell of France (1912)[9]
  • Royton Manor (1928)[11]
  • Challenged (1931)[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Leonard, John W., ed. (1914). Woman's Who's Who of America. American Commonwealth Company. pp. 546–547.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ "Mrs. John H. Mason, Novelist, Traveler; Clergyman's Widow Also Wrote on Religion—Dies in Danvers". The New York Times. May 4, 1939. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Historical and Religious Themes Favored by Author". Sioux City Journal. December 18, 1932. p. 6.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Among the New Books". Chicago Tribune. September 11, 1901. p. 16.
  5. ^ a b "Holt of Heathfield". The Minneapolis Tribune. January 22, 1904. p. 4.
  6. ^ a b "John Milton and Miss Davis". The Gazette Times. Pittsburgh. January 31, 1909. sec. 2, p. 3.
  7. ^ Bradford, Richard (June 21, 2021). The Life of the Author: John Milton. Wiley. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-119-62156-0.
  8. ^ a b "Bookshelf and Inglenook". Los Angeles Herald. April 17, 1910. p. 50.
  9. ^ a b "Old France". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. May 4, 1912. p. 6.
  10. ^ a b Morey, Ann-Janine (1992). Religion and Sexuality in American Literature. Cambridge University Press. pp. 251–252. ISBN 0-521-41676-0. OCLC 25026073.
  11. ^ "Appealing New Novel by Miss Caroline A. Mason". The Boston Globe. December 1, 1928. p. 4.
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