author
Frances Brooke
d. 1789
An English novelist, essayist, playwright, and translator, she is best remembered for writing what is widely considered the first English-language novel created in Canada. Her work moves easily between sharp social observation, feeling, and the lively world of the 18th-century stage.
1 Audiobook
The History of Emily Montague
by Frances Brooke
About the author
Born Frances Moore in Lincolnshire in 1724, she built a literary career in London and became known for her versatility across fiction, drama, essays, and translation. She edited the periodical The Old Maid, published plays and novels, and moved in prominent literary circles of her day.
A key turning point came when she joined her husband, the Reverend John Brooke, in Quebec after the Seven Years' War. That stay in Canada inspired The History of Emily Montague (1769), a novel often described as the first English-language novel written in Canada and still the work most closely associated with her name.
She continued writing for the stage and the page through the 1770s and 1780s, including the popular opera Rosina. She died in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, on January 23, 1789, leaving behind a body of work that links English literary culture with early writing in colonial Canada.