author
Mimosa
b. 1873
An Irish writer who published as “Mimosa,” she drew on her links to Burma to write fiction and retellings that introduced many readers to Burmese settings and stories. Her life was as dramatic as her books, marked by travel, reinvention, and later controversy.
1 Audiobook
Told on the Pagoda: Tales of Burmah
by Mimosa
About the author
Mabel Mary Agnes Cosgrove, born in Ireland in 1873, wrote under the pen name Mimosa and is also associated with the names Mrs. Chan-Toon and Pearse. She is described as an Irish novelist and short story writer, and her work included Told on the Pagoda: Tales of Burmah and A Marriage in Burmah.
In 1893, she married Prince Chan-Toon, a Burmese barrister and nephew of a hereditary king of Arakan. That connection shaped much of her literary identity, and she became especially known for writing about Burma for English-language readers.
Her later life was unusually turbulent. Sources note that she remarried, and that her name became tied to a long-running controversy over For Love of the King, a play she claimed had been written by Oscar Wilde. Even without dwelling on the scandal, her story stands out for the way it mixed literary ambition, international life, and a flair for drama.