Mary Johnston

Born in Buchanan, Virginia, in 1870, Mary Johnston grew up in a book-filled home and was educated largely by tutors because of fragile health. She turned to writing early and became one of the most widely read American novelists of the early twentieth century, especially through historical fiction such as To Have and to Hold and Audrey.

Johnston's novels often drew on American colonial and Civil War settings, blending adventure, romance, and a strong feeling for place. Her success was remarkable for the time: she reached a mass audience and saw several of her books adapted into silent films.

She was also active beyond literature. Johnston supported women's suffrage and worked with the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia, using her reputation as an author to argue for political change. She died in 1936, but she remains an important figure in both Virginia literary history and the history of American reform movements.