''The History of Emily Montague'', written by

Frances Brooke Frances Brooke ( Moore; 12 January 1724 – 23 January 1789) was an English novelist, essayist, playwright and translator. Hers was the first English novel known to have been written in Canada. Biography Frances Moore was born in Claypole, ...

and first published in 1769, is often considered the first Canadian novel. It is a

sentimental novel The sentimental novel or the novel of sensibility is an 18th-century literary genre which celebrates the emotional and intellectual concepts of sentiment, sentimentalism, and sensibility. Sentimentalism, which is to be distinguished from sens ...

written in the epistolary form. It also features some elements of a

travelogue Travelogue may refer to: Genres * Travel literature, a record of the experiences of an author travelling * Travel documentary A travel documentary is a documentary film, television program, or online series that describes travel in general or ...

, as the main letter-writer responds to requests to describe the colony of Canada in detail. The plot of the novel is a love story, but along the way Brooke includes many reflections on social norms and the relations between the English, French,

Huron Huron may refer to: People * Wyandot people (or Wendat), indigenous to North America * Wyandot language, spoken by them * Huron-Wendat Nation, a Huron-Wendat First Nation with a community in Wendake, Quebec * Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi ...

, and

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

cultures in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. The main letter-writers in the novel are Emily Montague, Colonel William Fermor, Colonel Ed Rivers (possibly inspired by

Henry Caldwell Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Caldwell ( c. 1735 – 1810) was a Canadian army and militia officer, a successful businessman and a member of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada. Early life The youngest son of Sir John Caldwell (d. 1744) 3rd ...

), and Arabella Fermor. Of these, Emily is the main heroine, but Arabella has typically captured more readers' attention, for being a bold and witty

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ...

to the demure and shy Emily. Brooke wrote the novel while she was living at the Jesuit House of Sillery (french: maison des Jésuites-de-Sillery) in Sillery, Quebec from 1763 to 1768, shortly after the

Battle of the Plains of Abraham The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec (french: Bataille des Plaines d'Abraham, Première bataille de Québec), was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War (referred to as the French and Indian War to describe ...

. It is the first novel written in Canada, and the first novel featuring a Canadian setting. However, Brooke herself was English and only lived in Canada for five years, and the book was published in London; moreover, because it pre-dates the

Confederation of Canada Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Dominion of ...

as an independent country in 1867, some have argued that it (and all pre-1867 literature from the region), should be considered colonial literature, not Canadian literature. The book was first published in 1769 when Brooke returned to England, by

James Dodsley James Dodsley (1724–1797) was an English bookseller. Life Dodsley was born near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire in 1724. He was probably employed in the shop of his prosperous brother, Robert, by whom he was taken into partnership—the firm tra ...

. It received positive reviews in the most notable journals, and was reprinted in several editions during Brooke's lifetime. The book was generally overlooked in the nineteenth century, in part because few copies were available. In 1921, an article by literary scholar Charles Blue, "Canada's First Novelist," made the case that the book was worth serious study, and since then it has been considered an important part of the canon of

Canadian literature Canadian literature is the literature of a multicultural country, written in languages including Canadian English, Canadian French, Indigenous languages, and many others such as Canadian Gaelic. Influences on Canadian writers are broad both g ...

References

External links

* * Full text o
''The History of Emily Montague''
available at ''A Celebration of Women Writers'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Emily Montague 1769 books 18th-century Canadian literature Epistolary novels Sillery, Quebec City