The Jalna Saga – Deluxe Edition: All Sixteen Books of the Enduring Classic Series & The Biography of Mazo de la Roche (675 page)

BOOK: The Jalna Saga – Deluxe Edition: All Sixteen Books of the Enduring Classic Series & The Biography of Mazo de la Roche
6.38Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads
1913
1913
Mazo’s maternal grandmother, Louise Lundy, dies in Toronto.
Woodrow Wilson becomes President of the United States.
1914
1914
William Roche gives up the farm. This experiment has ended in bankruptcy.
The First World War begins.
The Panama Canal opens.
Mazo publishes a story in
Atlantic Monthly
magazine.
A new edition of Susanna Moodie’s
Roughing It in the Bush
reaches number eight on the Canadian non-fiction bestseller list.
Pierre Fritz Mansbendel marries Mazo’s Aunt Eva and moves to New York City.
1915
1915
William Roche dies in Bronte. Mazo, Alberta, and Caroline move to Toronto, where Caroline begins working as a clerk in the provincial parliament buildings to support the family.
L.M. Montgomery’s
Anne of the Island
is number eight on the Canadian bestseller list.
In Belgium, Canadian troops fight their first major battle at Ypres.
1917
1917
Caroline becomes a statistician in the Fire Marshall’s office of the Ontario government.
The Russian Revolution overthrows the imperial government of the czar and places the Bolsheviks in power.
1918
The First World War ends.
1919
1919
Mazo is writing humorous short stories.
J.F.B. Livesay, husband of Florence and father of Dorothy, publishes a best-selling volume on the First World War entitled
Canada’s Hundred Days
. He becomes general manager of the Canadian Press news service.
Mazo and Caroline spend their first summer in their newly constructed cottage in Clarkson. Mazo works on her third novel,
Delight
.
Caroline’s brother dies.
Peter McArthur’s biography of Sir Wilfrid Laurier reaches number eight on the Canadian non-fiction bestseller list.
Ralph Connor’s
Sky Pilot in No Man’s Land
achieves number five position on the American bestseller list for fiction.
1920
1920
Mazo’s mother dies of influenza.
The Group of Seven Canadian artists forms in Toronto. Members are: A.Y. Jackson; Frank Johnston; Lawren Harris; Franklin Carmichael; F.H. Varley; Arthur Lismer; and J.E.H. MacDonald.
1921
1921
Mazo begins writing a novel and some plays.
The Canadian Authors Association is created in Montreal. Most Canadian authors, including Mazo de la Roche, will become members.
William Lyon Mackenzie King is elected prime minister of Canada.
Hugh Eayrs assumes the presidency of Macmillan of Canada.
1922
1922
Mazo publishes her first book,
Explorers of the Dawn
, a collection of stories. This book, published by Knopf, becomes a bestseller in the U.S.
Nellie McClung’s highly political novel,
Purple Springs
, is number nine on the Canadian bestseller list.
Mazo visits Nova Scotia and writes her second novel,
The Thunder of New Wings
.
W.A. Deacon begins his literary journalism career with
Saturday Night
magazine in Toronto.
Caroline and Mazo become friends of the Livesay family and purchase property beside the Livesay home in Clarkson, Ontario, just west of Toronto.
The Ottawa Film Productions movie,
The Man From Glengarry
, based on the Ralph Connor novel, is released.
1923
1923
Mazo and Caroline spend (heir first summer in their newly constructed cottage in Clarkson. Mazo works on her third novel.
Delight
.
Canadians Frederick Banting and John Macleod win the Nobel Prize for Medicine for the discovery of insulin, which extends and improves the lives of victims of diabetes.
Time
magazine is launched.
In Britain, the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth are marriedjn Westminster Abbey.
1925
1925
Mazo’s play
Low Life
is produced.
British dramatist George Bernard Shaw wins the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Mazo begins to write
Jalna
, the novel that will introduce the Whiteoak family. The Whiteoaks live in southern Ontario in a big, old, red-brick house called Jalna.
W.A. Deacon creates a “Literary Section” in
Saturday Night
magazine.
1926
1926
Mazo publishes her novel
Delight
.
Canadian novelist Margaret Laurence is born in Neepawa, Manitoba, a locale she will feature in much of her fiction.
Mazo and Caroline move into a flat owned by Gertrude Pringle, author of a book on etiquette.
Caroline is now Chief Statistician in the Fire Marshall’s office of the Ontario government.
In the U.S., Sinclair Lewis wins the Pulitzer Prize for his novel
Arrowsmith
.
Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth II, is born in London.
1927
1927
Mazo’s novel
Jalna
wins the $10,000
Atlantic Monthly
-Little, Brown competition. The Canadian Authors Association gives her a gala banquet, hosted by Charles G.D. Roberts.
Jalna
reaches third position on the Canadian bestseller list and fifth on the American.
Sinclair Lewis’s
Elmer Gantry
leads both the Canadian and the American bestseller lists.
Poet and animal-story writer Charles G.D. Roberts becomes president of the national Canadian Authors Association, a position he will hold for two years.
Mazo begins her next novel,
Whiteoaks of Jalna
.
1928
1928
The pressure of success leads to another breakdown for Mazo. Caroline resigns her civil service job to become Mazo’s nurse, editor, hostess, and secretary.
Dorothy Livesay publishes
Green Pictures
, her first book of poems, with Macmillan.
John Galsworthy publishes
Swan Song
, another volume in his popular saga of the Forsyte family.
British writer Sir Hugh Walpole makes the American fiction bestseller list for the first time with
Wintersmoon
.
1929
1929
Mazo publishes
Lark Ascending
and
The Thunder of New Wings
.
The Great Depression begins with the October stock market crash.
Mazo and Caroline travel to Italy and settle in Devon, England. Mazo meets Canadian actor Raymond Massey and a number of British authors, including Sir Hugh Walpole and Ethel C. Mayne.
British author Ethel C. Mayne publishes her biography of Lady Byron.
1930
1930
Mazo publishes
Portrait of a Dog
, about her beloved Scottish terrier, Bunty.
Sinclair Lewis receives the Nobel Prize in Literature. He is the first American to be so honoured.
1931
1931
Mazo’s third Jalna novel,
Finch’s Fortune
, is published. It reaches number seven on the American bestseller list.
Pearl Buck’s
The Good Earth
leads the American bestseller list.
Mazo and Caroline adopt two small children, a girl Esmée and a boy René. The family moves to The Rectory, Hawkchurch, Devon.
Willa Cather’s
Shadow on the Rocks
, set in New France, is both a bestseller and a selection of the Book of the Month club.
1932
1932
Mazo publishes
Whiteoaks of Jalna
to popular and critical acclaim.
British novelist John Galsworthy wins the Nobel Prize in Literature.
1933
1933
Macmillan releases
The Master of Jalna
. It reaches ninth place on the American bestseller list.
In the U.S., President Roosevelt implements the New Deal, a program designed to alleviate the effects of unemployment caused by the Great Depression.
Mazo, Caroline, and the children spend the summer in Canada, at Springfield Farm near Trail Cottage.
In Germany, Adolph Hitler is appointed Chancellor and within a few months becomes a dictator. He suppresses labour unions and harasses Jews.
1934
1934
While writing another Jalna novel, Mazo also begins working on a play called
Whiteoaks
.
RKO Radio Pictures of Hollywood releases its movie
Anne of Green Gables
based on the novel by L.M. Montgomery.
Mazo provides Queen Mary, wife of King George V, with a signed copy of
Jalna
at the Queen’s request.
1935
1935
Mazo, Caroline, and the children are living in England’s Malvern Hills.
Pelham Edgar, Professor of English at the University of Toronto and a friend of Mazo, becomes president of the Canadian Authors Association.
Young Renny
is published.
RKO Hollywood studio releases a movie based on
Jalna
.
Charles G.D. Roberts becomes Sir Charles when he is knighted by King George V.
1936
1936
Mazo’s play,
Whiteoaks
, becomes the first Canadian play to be mounted on a professional London stage.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is created.
The sixth Jalna novel,
Whiteoak Harvest
, is published.
The Canadian Authors Association inaugurates the Governor General’s Awards for Canadian literature. Initially there are two categories: fiction and non-fiction.
1937
1937
Mazo purchases Vale House, near Windsor Castle.
The Canadian Authors Association adds a poetry or drama category to the Governor General’s Literary Awards. E.J. Pratt wins the first award for poetry. Laura Salverson wins the fiction category for
The Dark Weaver
, and Stephen Leacock the non-fiction for
My Discovery of the West
.
The Very House
, Mazo’s second book about her children, is published.
1938
1938
Mazo is awarded the Lorne Pierce Medal by the Royal Society of Canada.
In Europe, Hitler marches into Austria.
Mazo’s
Growth of a Man
is published.
In Canada, Emily Carr has her first solo exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
A Broadway production of
Whiteoaks
opens, with Ethel Barrymore starring.
A nylon bristle toothbrush is now available for purchase. This is the world’s first product made of nylon.
1939
1939
Mazo, Caroline, and the children move back to Canada, near Toronto.
The Second World War begins.
Canadian poet and novelist Margaret Atwood is born in Ottawa.
1940
1940
Whiteoak Heritage
is published.
Winston Churchill becomes prime minister of Britain.
RKO studio releases the movie
Anne of Windy Poplars
, based on L.M. Montgomery’s novel.
1941
1941
Wakefield’s Course
is published.
Emily Carr wins a Governor General’s Literary Award for
Klee Wyck
in the non-fiction category.
BOOK: The Jalna Saga – Deluxe Edition: All Sixteen Books of the Enduring Classic Series & The Biography of Mazo de la Roche
6.38Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Luscious Love by Sweets, Zach
We Were Never Here by Jennifer Gilmore
Ritual in the Dark by Colin Wilson
Scarlet Assassin by Isabella
Reunion by Meg Cabot
Apples to Oranges by Xondra Day