Sara Jeannette Duncan
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Sara Jeannette Duncan (22 December 1861 – 22 July 1922) was a Canadian author and journalist, who also published as Mrs. Everard Cotes (her married name) and Garth Grafton among other names. First trained as a teacher in a normal school, she took to poetry early in life and after a brief teaching period worked as a travel writer for Canadian newspapers and a columnist for the Toronto ''
Globe A globe is a spherical Earth, spherical Model#Physical model, model of Earth, of some other astronomical object, celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but, unlike maps, they do not distort the surface ...
''. Afterward she wrote for the ''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' where she was put in charge of the current literature section. Later she made a journey to India and married an Anglo-Indian civil servant thereafter dividing her time between England and India. She wrote 22 works of fiction, many with international themes and settings. Her novels met with mixed acclaim and are rarely read today. In 2016, she was named a National Historic Person on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.


Life

Born Sarah Janet Duncan on 22 December 1861 at 96 West Street,
Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indep ...
,
Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...
(now
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
), she was the oldest daughter of Charles Duncan, a well-off Scottish immigrant who worked as a
dry goods Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and Common ...
and furniture merchant, and his wife, Jane (née Bell), who was Canada-born of Irish descent. She trained as a teacher, taking a third-class certificate at Brantford Model School and her second-class certificate at Toronto Normal School, but always had an eye on a literary career. She had poetry printed as early as 1880, two years before she fully qualified as a teacher. A period of supply teaching in the Brantford area ended in December 1884, when she travelled to
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
after persuading '' The Globe'' newspaper in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
and the ''Advertiser'' in
London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...
to pay her for articles about the World Cotton Centennial. Her articles were published under the pseudonym "Garth" and reprinted in other newspapers. They led ''The Globe'' to offer her a regular weekly column when she returned to Canada some months later. Duncan wrote her "Other People and I" column for ''The Globe'' during the summer of 1885 using the name "Garth Grafton". She then moved to the ''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' in Washington D. C., where she was soon put in charge of the current literature department. She was back as "Garth Grafton" at ''The Globe'' in summer 1886, taking over the "Woman's World" section that had emerged. As in Washington, she contributed more generally as a member of the editorial staff. While the "Woman's World" column was fairly light in tone, she also wrote a more serious column for ''
The Week ''The Week'' is a weekly news magazine with editions in the United Kingdom and United States. The British publication was founded in 1995 and the American edition in 2001. An Australian edition was published from 2008 to 2012. A children's edi ...
'', a Toronto-based literary periodical, using the names "Jeannette Duncan" and "Sara Jeannette Duncan". Her biographer, Misao Dean, says that "well-suited to the ''Week'', her strongly defined progressive views on international copyright, women's suffrage, and realist fiction made her work remarkable in such conservative journals as the ''Globe'' and the ''Post''." In early 1887, Duncan became parliamentary correspondent for the '' Montreal Star'', basing herself in
Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
. In 1888, she embarked on a world tour with a friend,
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
journalist Lily Lewis. The idea of a woman travelling alone at that time was unconventional. Her intention was to gather material for a book, although both also filed stories to the ''Star'' as they travelled. In 1889, during this tour, she attended a function in
Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
organised by Lord Lansdowne, then
Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...
of India, whom she had previously known in Canada. There she met the
Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority group, minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Angl ...
civil servant Everard Charles Cotes, who was working as an
entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...
in the Indian Museum. The couple married a year later on 6 December 1890, after a proposal at the
Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...
. After her marriage, Duncan split her time mostly between England and India, often spending much of it alone in rented flats in
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
, London. The travelling was necessitated by her continued writing commitments in several countries. There had been plans for her and Everard to return permanently to England in 1894, but these came to nothing: her husband reinvented himself as a journalist and edited the Calcutta-based ''Indian Daily News'' in 1894–97, later becoming managing director of the Eastern News Agency. Although Marian Fowler, a biographer, argued that the couple's marriage was unhappy (based on E.M. Forster's off-hand and misinterpreted observation that "Mrs. Cotes sdifficult, and I fancy unhappy"), hers is not the accepted view. Duncan certainly supported her husband in various work-related endeavours. She also cultivated a friendship with James Louis Garvin while he was editor of '' The Outlook'' and ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'', at least in part hoping he might find a position for Everard in Britain. Warkentin suggests that theirs may have been "one of those marriages in which a difficult woman and a gentle, agreeable man made common cause." Sometimes she lived at
Simla Shimla, also known as Simla (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summe ...
, the summer capital of the
British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...
. There she entertained Forster in November 1912. He noted a characteristic ambivalence in her manner, saying that she was "clever and odd – t times very (crossed out)nice to talk to alone, but at times the Social Manner descended like a pall." His letters also speak to Duncan's continued involvement with political ideas: "I don't talk about politics ..although at the Cotes, I have been living in them." Around the time of
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 ...
, during which Duncan and her husband were unable to be together, she began to take an interest in writing plays, but had little success. She maintained her interest until 1921, two years after her husband had finally left India and the couple had taken residence in Chelsea. Duncan had been treated for
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
in 1900, spending the summer out of doors in the fresh air of
Simla Shimla, also known as Simla (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summe ...
, as chronicled in ''On the Other Side of the Latch'' (1901), published in the United States and Canada as ''The Crow's Nest''. She died of chronic lung disease on 22 July 1922 at Ashtead, Surrey, whence she and her husband had moved in 1921. She had been a smoker and it is possible that the cause of death was
emphysema Emphysema is any air-filled enlargement in the body's tissues. Most commonly emphysema refers to the permanent enlargement of air spaces (alveoli) in the lungs, and is also known as pulmonary emphysema. Emphysema is a lower respiratory tract di ...
, although her lung problems generally may have been exacerbated by the climate and sanitation in Calcutta. She was buried at St Giles's Church, Ashtead, and left a CAD$13,000 estate. Though she rarely returned to Canada after marrying Everard, and last visited in 1919, she had always insisted that the royalties from her books were paid into her bank account in Brantford. Everard was her beneficiary; he and Duncan had no children. Everard remarried in 1923, fathering two children before his death in 1944. Among Duncan's contacts in the literary world were the journalists Goldwin Smith (of the ''Week'') and John Stephen Willison, the novelist and editor Jean McIlwraith, and George William Ross. She also had some contact with William Dean Howells and
Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
, whose writings she admired.


Works

Duncan moved from journalism to writing fiction after her marriage to Cotes. Thereafter, she published books under various names, including a volume of personal sketches and a collection of short stories. These were usually serialised in magazines and newspapers before being published as books in Britain and the US. She had a regular writing routine that involved composing 300–400 words each morning and she planned her future works well ahead of their publication. Her agents were Alexander Pollock Watt and his sons, Alexander Strahan and Hansard. Duncan tended to identify as an Anglo-Indian. Nine of her novels are set in India and most of her works are in the setting of Anglo-Indian society, of which she said "there is such abundance of material ... it is full of such picturesque incidence, such tragic chance". The progress of her novels show her experimenting with different genres that might sell well or were known to be popular, and they were of increasing complexity. Generally, she followed a nineteenth-century tradition of "society" novels in which personal and public politics might play a part – epitomised by writers such as
William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray ( ; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his Satire, satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel ''Vanity Fair (novel), Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portra ...
and
Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope ( ; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among the best-known of his 47 novels are two series of six novels each collectively known as the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire ...
. Although she admired Howells and James, she did not often emulate them, with ''The Path of a Star'' (1899) being a notable exception. A recurring theme is an examination of the nature of authority and its relationship to autonomy, which was a topic that much concerned her mostly middle-class audience. Particularly adept with dialogue but less so with point of view, much of her work is ironic in tone and, according to Dean, attempts Duncan's first book was her most successful; "cheerfully anecdotal", says Warkentin, and "written with flair and self-conscious charm; it was written to sell, and sell it did." Titled ''A Social Departure: How Orthodocia and I Went Around The World by Ourselves'', it was published in 1890 and fictionalized her around-the-world trip with Lewis. It contains the first description of the city of
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
in fiction. According to Dean, the book "relies on the strengths of Duncan's journalism – close observation, description of manners, and wry humour – while transforming the narrator's travelling companion from the sophisticated Lewis into a naive and romantic English girl." Her next two novels, ''An American Girl in London'' (1891) and ''The Simple Adventures of a Memsahib'' (1893) followed a similar pattern, but then came ''A Daughter of To-day'' (1894), described by Dean as her first "serious novel" and by Warkentin as a "new woman" work that is "flawed but fascinating". It was with this fourth book that she took to using both her married and maiden name. ''A Voyage of Consolation'' (1897) was a sequel to internationally themed ''An American Girl in London''. The autobiographical ''On the Other Side of the Latch'' (1901) was set in Duncan's garden in Simla, where she had been forced to spend seven months while recovering from her tuberculosis infection. Warkentin sees this work as an example of her eye for a commercial opportunity. Duncan occasionally strayed from the subject of Anglo-Indian society and is best-known and most studied today for ''The Imperialist'', a 1904 work which was her only novel set in Canada and centers on a fictional town modeled on Brantford. It had at best a mixed reception: Germaine Warkentin says that despite being "the first truly modern Canadian novel", it was too progressive for its audience, poorly received and remained largely unread until the 1960s. Nowadays, it is the most popular of her works and the remainder, once generally much more popular, are read mainly as a means of contextualizing it. Dean says that at the time of publication ''Cousin Cinderella'' (1908) is set in London, and with ''His Royal Happiness'' (1914) constitutes the other work by Duncan that has significant Canadian themes, although neither is set in Canada. While not studied to the extent of ''The Imperialist'', ''Cousin Cinderella'' is considered by Anna Snaith to be an important work: Some later books – notably ''Set in Authority'' (1906), written in particularly ironic style, and ''The Burnt Offering'' (1909) – took as their theme the subject of Indian nationalism. In these she was able to draw on the similarities of experience between her colonised homeland and her colonised adopted land. ''Set in Authority'', which was titled ''The Viceroy'' until very near to publication, stands out as a notable failure in her commercial sense and an act perhaps of stubbornness, being an overtly political novel published immediately after the poor reception of ''The Imperialist'', which itself had been a novel about politics. Its central character, Anthony Andover, is now known to have been based on Lord Curzon, who was unpopular with Anglo-Indians. ''His Royal Happiness'' was adapted for the stage in 1915. Today, says Warkentin, with the exception of ''The Imperialist'', Duncan's ''œuvre'' "appears only occasionally in the writings of students of feminism and post-colonialism trawling the backwaters of the Edwardian novel, and almost never in accounts of Anglo-Indian literature".


Selected bibliography

* as Sara Jeanette Duncan * as V. Cecil Cotes, published in March * as Sara Jeanette Duncan, published in August * as Sara Jeanette Duncan * as Mrs Everard Cotes (Sara Jeanette Duncan) * as Sara Jeanette Duncan (Mrs Everard Cotes) * as Mrs Everard Cotes (Sara Jeanette Duncan) * as Sara Jeanette Duncan (Mrs Everard Cotes) * as Sara Jeanette Duncan (Mrs Everard Cotes) * as Sarah Jeanette Duncan (Mrs Everard Cotes) * as Mrs Everard Cotes (Sara Jeanette Duncan) * as Sara Jeanette Duncan — Mrs Everard Cotes. Also published under the title as Mrs Everard Cotes (Sara Jeanette Duncan) * as Mrs Everard Cotes (Sara Jeanette Duncan) *''The Little Widows of a Dynasty'' an article published in ''Harper's Magazine'' (1902) * as Mrs Everard Cotes (Sara Jeanette Duncan) – a collection of short stories * as Mrs Everard Cotes (Sara Jeanette Duncan) * as Mrs Everard Cotes (Sara Jeanette Duncan) * as Mrs Everard Cotes (Sara Jeanette Duncan) (the US edition was subtitled ''A Canadian girl in London'') * as Jane Wintergreen * as Mrs Everard Cotes (Sara Jeanette Duncan) * as Mrs Everard Cotes (Sara Jeanette Duncan) * as Mrs Everard Cotes * ''Title Clear.'' 1922 * Posthume: ''The Gold Cure''. Hutchinson, London 192
online
Carl Klinck believed it was possible that a book called ''Out of the City'' was authored by Duncan pseudonymously but seems not to have been able to confirm his suspicions.


References

Notes Citations Bibliography * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* * *


External links

* * * * *
Works by Mrs. Everard Cotes
and b
Sara Jeanette Duncan
a
Great War Theatre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Sara Jeannette 1861 births 1922 deaths 19th-century Canadian novelists 19th-century Canadian women writers 19th-century pseudonymous writers 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian women writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers Canadian newspaper journalists Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian women journalists Canadian women non-fiction writers Canadian women novelists Pseudonymous women writers Writers from Brantford Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) The Globe and Mail people The Washington Post people Writers from British India Novelists from Ontario