Mary MacLane (May 1, 1881 – ''c''. August 6, 1929) was a controversial

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

-born American writer whose frank memoirs helped usher in the confessional style of autobiographical writing. MacLane was known as the "Wild Woman of

Butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

".Watson, Julia Dr. (2002). "Introduction", ''The Story of Mary MacLane''. . MacLane was a popular author for her time, scandalizing the populace with her shocking bestselling first

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

and to a lesser extent her two following books. She was considered wild and uncontrollable, a reputation she nurtured, and was openly

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

as well as a vocal

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

. In her writings, she compared herself to another frank young memoirist,

Marie Bashkirtseff Marie Bashkirtseff, born Maria Konstantinovna Bashkirtseva (; – 31 October 1884), was an émigré artist who was born into a noble family on their estate near the city of Poltava. She lived and worked in Paris, and died at the age of 25. L ...

, who died a few years after MacLane was born,Story of Mary MacLane (1902 and 1911), first entry. and H. L. Mencken called her "the Butte Bashkirtseff".

Early life and family

MacLane was born in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, Canada in 1881, but her family moved to the Red River area of Minnesota, settling in Fergus Falls, which her father helped develop. After his death in 1889, her mother remarried a family friend and lawyer, H. Gysbert Klenze. Soon after, the family moved to

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, first settling in Great Falls and finally in

, where Klenze drained the family funds pursuing mining and other ventures. MacLane spent the remainder of her life in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. She began writing for her school paper in 1897.

Writing & Film

From the beginning, MacLane's writing was characterized by a direct, fiery,

individualist Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote realizing one's goals and desires, valuing independence and self-reliance, and a ...

ic style. She was, however, also influenced by such American regional realists as John Townsend Trowbridge (with whom she exchanged a few letters), Maria Louise Pool, and Hamlin Garland. In 1901, MacLane wrote her first book, which she originally titled ''I Await the Devil's Coming''. Prior to the manuscript's printing the following year, MacLane's publisher, Herbert S. Stone & Company, altered the title to '' The Story of Mary MacLane.'' The book proved to be an immediate success, especially among young women, selling over 100,000 copies during its first month of release. It, however, was pilloried by

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

critics and readers, and even lightly ridiculed by H. L. Mencken. Some critics have suggested that even by today's standards, MacLane's writing is raw, honest, unflinching, self-aware, sensual, and extreme. She wrote openly about

egoism Egoism is a philosophy concerned with the role of the self, or , as the motivation and goal of one's own action. Different theories of egoism encompass a range of disparate ideas and can generally be categorized into descriptive or normativ ...

and her own self-love, about sexual attraction and love for other women, and even about her desire to marry the

Devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

. Her second book, '' My Friend Annabel Lee'', was published by Stone in 1903. More experimental in style than her debut book, it was not as sensational, though MacLane was said to have made a fairly large amount of money. Her final book, ''I, Mary Maclane: A Diary of Human Days'' was published by Frederick A. Stokes in 1917 and sold moderately well but may have been overshadowed by America's recent entry into

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1917, she wrote and starred in the 90-minute autobiographical

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

titled '' Men Who Have Made Love to Me'', for Essanay Studios. Produced by film pioneer George Kirke Spoor and based on MacLane's 1910 article of the same title for a Butte newspaper, it has been speculated to have been an extremely early, if not the earliest, sustained breaking of the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...

in cinema, with the writer-star directly addressing the audience. Though stills and some subtitles have survived, the film is now believed to be lost. She was also known in her time for the mysterious ''Slanting Annie''

cocktail A cocktail is a mixed drink, usually alcoholic beverage, alcoholic. Most commonly, a cocktail is a combination of one or more liquor, spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, Shrub (drink), shrubs, and ...

, which purportedly sent reporters and bartenders reeling. ("Whole City Guessing. Mary MacLane Nominates a New Poison. Bartenders up a Tree. Confess They Don’t Know What a ‘Slanting Annie’ Is" was an admiring headline in The Montana Daily Record, May 9, 1902.) Published in thirty languages, her first and most famous work engendered several parodies.

Influence

Among the numerous authors who referenced, parodied, or answered MacLane were

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Harriet Monroe, lawyer

Clarence Darrow Clarence Seward Darrow (; April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer who became famous in the 19th century for high-profile representations of trade union causes, and in the 20th century for several criminal matters, including the ...

, Ring Lardner Jr.,

Sherwood Anderson Sherwood Anderson (September 13, 1876 – March 8, 1941) was an American novelist and short story writer, known for subjective and self-revealing works. Self-educated, he rose to become a successful copywriter and business owner in Cleveland and ...

and

Daniel Clowes Daniel Gillespie Clowes (; born April 14, 1961) is an American cartoonist, graphic novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter. Most of Clowes's work first appeared in ''Eightball (comic book), Eightball'', a solo anthology comic book series. An ''E ...

in Ice Haven. Gertrude Sanborn published an optimistic riposte to MacLane's 1917 ''I, Mary MacLane'' under the title ''I, Citizen of Eternity'' (1920).

Personal life

MacLane had always chafed, or felt, "''anxiety'' of place", at living in Butte, a mining city far from cultural centers, and used the money from her first book's sales to travel to Chicago and then throughout the East Coast. She lived in

Rockland, Massachusetts Rockland is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,803 at the 2020 census. As of December 31, 2009, there were 11,809 registered voters in the community. History Rockland was a part of territory given to ...

, wintering in

St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located 40 miles (64 km) south of downtown Jacksonville, the city is on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spani ...

, from 1903 to 1908, then in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

from 1908 to 1909, where she continued writing and, by her later published accounts, living a

decadent Decadence was a late-19th-century movement emphasizing the need for sensationalism, egocentricity, and bizarre, artificial, perverse, and exotic sensations and experiences. By extension, it may refer to a decline in art, literature, science, ...

and

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

existence. She was close friends with the feminist writer

Inez Haynes Irwin Inez Haynes Irwin (March 2, 1873 – September 25, 1970) was an American feminist author, journalist, member of the National Woman's Party, and president of the Authors Guild. Many of her works were published under her former name Inez Haynes Gi ...

, who is referenced in some of MacLane's 1910 writing in a Butte newspaper and who in turn mentioned MacLane in a 1911 magazine article. For a period, she lived with her friend Caroline M. Branson, who had been the long-time companion of Maria Louise Pool until the latter's death in 1898. They lived in the Rockland house that Pool left to Branson. Mary Maclane also had a multi-decade friendship with Harriet Monroe. MacLane died in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in early August 1929, aged 48. She was less frequently discussed through the mid to late 20th century, and her prose remained out of print until late 1993, when ''The Story of Mary MacLane'' and some of her newspaper feature work was republished in ''Tender Darkness: A Mary MacLane Anthology''.

Contemporary collections and performances

In 2025, the first biography of MacLane - ''Mary MacLane: Herself'', by Michael R. Brown - was published. In 2014, the publisher of ''Tender Darkness'' (1993) published an expanded anthology titled ''Human Days: A Mary MacLane Reader'' (with a Foreword by Bojana Novakovic). In 2011, Novakovic wrote and performed "The Story of Mary MacLane – By Herself" in

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...

, which was subsequently staged in

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

in 2012. In the 2010s, MacLane's first book was translated int
French
an
Spanish
Reclam published a German edition of ''I Await the Devil's Coming'' in 2020, followed by 2021 editions of ''My Friend Annabel Lee'' and I, Mary MacLane.

Bibliography

Books

* '' The Story of Mary MacLane'' (1902) * '' My Friend Annabel Lee'' (1903) * '' The Story of Mary MacLane - Past and Present'' (1911) * ''I, Mary MacLane: A Diary of Human Days'' (1917, 2013) * ''The Story of Mary MacLane'' ed. Michael Yokum (1981 UK reprint of 1911 ''The Story of Mary MacLane - Past and Present'') * ''Tender Darkness: A Mary MacLane Anthology'' (reprint anthology, ed. Elisabeth Pruitt) (1993) * ''The Story of Mary MacLane and Other Writings'' (reprint anthology, ed. Penelope Rosemont) (1997) * ''Human Days: A Mary MacLane Reader'' (ed. Michael R. Brown, foreword by Bojana Novakovic) (2014) * ''I Await the Devil's Coming'' (2013)

Selected articles

* The Uninitiated (editorial, October 1897) * ntitled editorial on stoicism(January, 1898) * Consider Thy Youth and Therein (editorial, April 1899) * Charles Dickens – Best of Castle-Builders (graduate oration, May 1899) * Mary MacLane at Newport (1902) * Mary MacLane at Coney Island (1902) * Mary MacLane on Wall Street (1902) * Mary MacLane in Little Old New York (1902) * On Marriage (1902) * A Foreground and a Background (1903) * Mary MacLane Discusses the 'Outward Seeming of Denver' (1903) * He Loves Me (1903) * The Second 'Story of Mary MacLane' (1909) * Mary MacLane Soliloquizes on Scarlet Fever (1910) * Mary MacLane Meets the Vampire on the Isle of Treacherous Delights (1910) * The Autobiography of the Kid Primitive (1910) * Mary MacLane Wants a Vote – For the Other Woman (1910) * Men Who Have Made Love to Me (1910) * The Latter-Day Litany of Mary MacLane (1910) * The Borrower of Two-Dollar Bills – and Other Women (1910) * A Waif of Destiny on the High Seas (1910) * Woman and the Cigarette (1911) * Mary MacLane Says – (1911 - article on fashion and feminism) * Mary MacLane on Marriage (1917) * The Movies and Me (1918) * The Rebirth of Russia (1918 - review of Isaac Marcosson's account of the liberal, pre-Communist revolution) * Mencken's Latest Book (1919 - review of ''Prejudices - First Series'')

Screenplays and filmography

* '' Men Who Have Made Love to Me'' (1918)"Mary MacLane", IMDb.com.
Accessed: December 16, 2012.

In popular culture

The 2020 novel '' Plain Bad Heroines'' features MacLane's life and work as a recurring interest for multiple characters in the book, which draws its title from a passage from MacLane's ''The Story of Mary MacLane''.

References

External links

Website with biography, photos, private letters, reviews

Encyclopædia Britannica article by Julia Watson

2013 Atlantic article by Hope Reese

2013 New Yorker article
* * *
Mary MacLane at Women Film Pioneers Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maclane, Mary 1881 births 1929 deaths Bisexual women writers American people of Canadian descent American feminist writers Bisexual memoirists LGBTQ people from Montana People from Butte, Montana Writers from Chicago Writers from Winnipeg People from Fergus Falls, Minnesota American women memoirists Canadian feminist writers 20th-century American memoirists 20th-century Canadian memoirists Canadian expatriate writers in the United States People from Rockland, Massachusetts Women film pioneers Canadian women memoirists 20th-century American women writers Canadian bisexual women American bisexual women Canadian bisexual writers American bisexual writers 20th-century Canadian women writers Memoirists from Montana Memoirists from Minnesota 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people