Deland

Mrs. Margaret Wade Campbell, an American novelist. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, in 1857. She was educated at the Cooper Union, New York, and for some time was a teacher of drawing. She was married in 1880 to L. F. Deland. Since her marriage she has resided in Boston. Her first novel, John Ward, Preacher, published in 1888, attracted wide notice. It is the story of a woman whose soul revolts against the accepted religious beliefs which her husband preaches. Philip and His Wife deals with the divorce question. The Awakening of Helena Ritchie is a much later story, and unquestionably the best of Mrs. Deland's novels. Its vital question is that of the responsibility of one human life to all life, and it teaches that renunciation for the common good is repaid in spiritual growth and development. Mrs. Deland is best known by her short stories which have won her a place among the "representative storytellers of America." These, published originally in the magazines, have been collected in two volumes, Old Chester Tales and Dr. Lavender's People. They are stories of Pennsylvania village life. Most of them, like the novels, deal with some ethical problem. They display a fine discrimination in the peculiarities of character, a clear beauty, and delicacy of touch, which has led to a comparison with the work of Jane Austen. Mrs. Deland, however, displays the greater depth of feeling and wider sympathy. She strikes at the root of spiritual growth or spiritual stagnation, as the case may be. Among her characters, Dr. Lavender and the irresistible David are genuine creations.