Marion Harland

Mary Virginia Terhune (née Hawes, December 21, 1830 – June 3, 1922), also known by her penname Marion Harland, was an American author who was prolific and bestselling in both fiction and non-fiction genres. Born in Amelia County, Virginia, she began her career writing articles at the age of 14, using various pennames until 1853, when she settled on Marion Harland. Her first novel Alone was published in 1854 and became an "emphatic success" following its second printing the next year. Terhune was home schooled until her family moved to Richmond, Virginia, in 1844, where she attended a girl's seminary school for two years of formal education.

Her real interest lay in fiction writing, but she initially was unsuccessful in selling her works to magazines. At sixteen, Hawes secretly began work on her first novel, while continuing to try to sell stories to magazines. In 1853, she won a contest held by The Southern Era with her serial novel, Kate Harper, which was published under the pen name Marion Harland.

Terhune's last son Albert was born December 21, 1872, on her forty-second birthday, and she referred to him as the "greatest gift" she'd received. Her obituary was published in numerous national papers. In 2006 the Library of Virginia named Terhune one of its annual Virginia Women in History.

Writing style and themes Terhune's first writings, written under a more masculine pseudonym when she was 14, were evangelical essays for the Watchman and Observer, a weekly religious paper. Starting with the publication of her first novel, Alone, in 1855, she became one of the top-selling authors of women's fiction. Her early novels all featured a romantic story element, with many also including "sensational episodes-murders, fires, accidents, and sudden deaths." The works explored a variety of topics, with earlier works looking at the "domestic and religious lives of young women" and later works delving into depravity, alcoholism, drug addiction, and mental illness. Literary critics at the time classified her as a "plantation novelist". Since the late 20th century, critics have appraised her differently, noting that Terhune set several novels outside of the South, including two set in New York City. They also noted that she was critical of various social institutions considered acceptable in the antebellum South, including slavery and marriages between close relatives. (1857) Nemesis (1860) Miriam (1862) Sunnybank (1866) Judith, A Chronicle of Old Virginia (1883) His Great Self (1892) The Distractions of Martha (1906) Some Colonial Homesteads and Their Stories (1887)