Julia Catherine Hart | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Julia Catherine Hart

Julia Catherine Hart, née Beckwith (b at Fredericton 10 Mar 1796; d there 28 Nov 1867). Hart wrote the first work of fiction by a native-born Canadian to be published in Canada.

Hart, Julia Catherine

Julia Catherine Hart, née Beckwith (b at Fredericton 10 Mar 1796; d there 28 Nov 1867). Hart wrote the first work of fiction by a native-born Canadian to be published in Canada. Her novel St Ursula's Convent; or, The Nun of Canada, Containing Scenes from Real Life, although published in 1824, was written when she was 17 and it is a sentimental, moralistic melodrama. As a young girl she experienced both the English and French cultures - a dual heritage reflected in her novel. Her second novel, Tonnewonte (1825), is set in the US. In this work she wrote to entertain and to set forth her idealism about the freedom and serenity of western frontier life.