Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill
A Biography of Two Early Canadian Female Authors Reviewed
Nov 16, 2009
The names of Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill are now little mentioned except in literary circles or Canadian history classes, but in their day, they were household names on both sides of the Atlantic. Susanna and Catharine were well-known authors in England before immigrating to Canada in 1832. Both continued writing in Canada, describing their experiences. Sisters in the Wilderness (1999, Penguin, ISBN 9780143168362) is an interesting and engaging look at these two women.
Childhood: The Stricklands in England
Charlotte Gray begins the biography by introducing us to the two sisters in Canada, then takes us back to their growing-up years in England. Catharine and Susanna were the youngest sisters of the Strickland family, a family Gray compares to Jane Austen’s—poor gentility. All eight Strickland children were well educated and well read. Five of the sisters and one of the sons would become published authors.
While the sisters turned to writing at first as a way to make a bit of money, it soon became a passion. Writing introduced them to London society and heady fame. Catharine wrote children’s stories while Susanna wrote romances for popular magazines. Then, just as Susanna seemed fated for spinsterhood like her sisters, love appeared in the form of handsome John Moodie. Shortly after Susanna’s marriage to John, Catharine married John’s good friend Thomas Traill.
Immigration: The Moodies and Traills in Canada
Charlotte Gray does an excellent job of providing background information to the story without overwhelming the reader with historical facts and details. She explains the economy of the day in England, reasons for immigrating, and what conditions were like for the immigrants. The Traills and Moodies were fortunate enough to have a bit of money to purchase cabins for the voyage across the ocean and to have a good start in Canada.
Immigration to Canada, however, did not turn out to be the magic solution that they hoped. While Susanna and Catharine had a brother in Canada who was doing very well, they lacked his skills. Poor money management soon meant that the Moodies were in debt. Both sisters moved several times, seeking better opportunities and trying to escape debts. For a time, they lived within a mile of each other and were able to offer companionship and assistance to each other.
With money tight, both sisters returned to writing to make ends meet. This time it was harder, as their publishers were in England. Catharine’s sisters in England helped her edit for publication in 1836 The Backwoods of Canada. It sold well, but made Catharine little money. Susanna wrote for American magazines who were happy to have material from a famous Strickland sister. In 1852, she also published her memoirs of immigration, Roughing It in the Bush.
Conclusion: A Place in Canadian History
Life never got easy for either the Traills or the Moodies. Money problems plagued both families. Susanna and Catharine wrote until their deaths, but made little money off their writing. Fledgling Canadian publishers could pay little and they were too far from their English publishers to bargain for decent royalties as their sister did. They did both receive fame and recognition in Canada for their work; Catharine, who outlived Susanna by fourteen years, became especially famous as Canada’s “oldest living author.”
Today, several of the sisters’ works are still in print. Gray explains that “plenty of contemporary Canadians have shared the feels [the sisters] captured on paper about emigration.” She provided an introduction to a 2006 Penguin edition of Susanna Moodie’s Roughing It in the Bush. The sisters’ other works and letters, and Catharine’s scrapbooks of native flowers, are in Canadian archives. Their legacy to Canada lives on.
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