author
Mary Ellen Chase
1887–1973
Best known for writing about the Maine coast and the people shaped by it, this American novelist and teacher brought New England life to the page with warmth and clarity. She also spent many years teaching literature at Smith College, where she influenced generations of students.
4 Audiobooks
Virginia of Elk Creek Valley
by Mary Ellen Chase
Mary Christmas
by Mary Ellen Chase
The Girl from the Big Horn Country
by Mary Ellen Chase
The art of narration
by Mary Ellen Chase, Frances Kelley Del Plaine
About the author
Born in Blue Hill, Maine, in 1887, Mary Ellen Chase grew up in a seafaring New England community that would deeply shape her writing. She studied at the University of Maine and later earned a Ph.D. in English from the University of Minnesota, building a career that combined scholarship, teaching, and fiction.
Chase became known for novels and memoirs rooted in the Maine coast, its landscapes, and its traditions. Her work often drew on family history and regional life, and she was widely regarded as an important New England literary voice of the early twentieth century.
Alongside her writing, she taught English at Smith College for many years and remained a respected lecturer and educator. She died in 1973, leaving behind a body of work remembered for its strong sense of place and its affection for the communities she knew best.