Blanche Lucile Macdonnell

Born in 1870 in Prince Edward Island, Blanche Lucile Macdonnell was a Canadian writer and journalist. She became known for fiction that drew on Canadian settings and history, especially the French colonial past, and wrote in a style that made those stories accessible and dramatic for general readers.

Her novel Diane of Ville Marie is the work most closely associated with her. It was successful enough to keep her name in circulation long after publication, and it reflects the qualities readers often look for in early popular historical fiction: romance, conflict, and a vivid backdrop.

Although she is not as widely read today as some of her contemporaries, her work remains of interest as part of the tradition of Canadian historical writing by women at the turn of the twentieth century.