Mary Andrews Denison

Mary Andrews Denison (May 26, 1826 – October 15, 1911) was an American novelist. She wrote over eighty novels which in total sold more than one million copies. Her writing style was typical of the dime novels popular in the mid-nineteenth century, featuring sweet-natured and noble heroines who triumph over evil.

Biography

Mary Ann Andrews was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on May 26, 1826. Her family moved to Boston when she was a child, where she attended private and public schools.

In 1846, she married Charles Wheeler Denison, becoming stepmother to his daughter and two sons. He was also assistant editor of the Boston newspaper Olive Branch, and after meeting Charles, Mary began writing stories and sketches for that and other periodicals. She wrote her first book, Edna Etheril, the Boston Seamstress in 1847.

In 1853, she followed her husband to British Guiana where he had been appointed consul general. They moved multiple times in the 1850s and 1860s, living in Buffalo, London, and finally settling in Washington, D.C. in 1867. In the late 1850s, she served as editor of the Lady's Enterprise while continuing to write for periodicals such as Gleason's Literary Companion and Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly. During the Civil War, Charles served as a chaplain in Washington, D.C., and Mary nursed the ill and dying.

After her husband's death in 1881, Mary continued writing. In the early 1900s, she moved to Baltimore. During the last fourteen months of her life, she lived in her brother's home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Denison died of pneumonia in Cambridge on October 15, 1911, and was buried in Lakeside Cemetery in Wakefield, Massachusetts.

Writing

Denison wrote over eighty novels, which in total sold over one million copies. She wrote under several pen names, including "Clara Vance" and variations of her own name, such as the anagram "N. I. Edson" and the initials "M.A.D." and "A.M.D." In addition to novels, she wrote children's books, short stories, and plays. Denison wrote to satisfy the sentimental popular tastes of the time, which included themes of domesticity and romance. Her novels allowed readers to enjoy vivid depictions of vice along with the ultimate triumph of virtue. Most of her works had religious overtones and several of her books were published by the American Baptist Publication Society. Her most popular work, That Husband of Mine, sold 300,000 copies within its first month and was dedicated to "all who love happy homes."