Susanna Moodie (1803–1885)
Author of Roughing it in the Bush
About the Author
Susanna Moodie, born in Suffolk, England, was the youngest of five daughters, four of whom became writers of fiction and poetry. (Moodie's elder sister, Catharine Parr Traill, a lesser-known British colonial author, wrote The Backwoods of Canada). Before immigrating to Canada, in 1832, Moodie show more penned numerous poems and stories, all heavily didactic and decidedly second-rate. However, once she had settled in Upper Canada (now Ontario) with her husband, John Dunbar Moodie, the harsh life of the settler provoked a more realistic literary response. Her autobiographical Roughing It in the Bush, published in 1852, is a series of sketches stitched into a larger narrative. It is a book expressing the hopes and defeat, the pride and the anger the early settlers felt toward their new home, the Canadian bush. A sequel, Life in the Clearings versus the Bush, appeared in 1853. Throughout her life Susanna Moodie's literary output continued to be prolific. Yet it is the frank and colorful quality of Roughing It that has placed her in the forefront of early Canadian writers. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Library and Archives Canada
Works by Susanna Moodie
The Monctons 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Moodie, Susanna
- Other names
- Strickland, Susanna (birth name)
- Birthdate
- 1803-12-06
- Date of death
- 1885-04-08
- Burial location
- Belleville Cemetery, Belleville, Ontario, Canada
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- Canada
- Birthplace
- Bungay, Suffolk, England, UK
- Place of death
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Places of residence
- Belleville, Ontario, Canada
Duoro Township, Upper Canada
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Suffolk, England (birth) - Occupations
- author
- Relationships
- Traill, Catharine Parr (sister)
Strickland, Agnes (sister)
Strickland, Samuel (brother) - Short biography
- Susanna Strickland was the younger sister of authors Agnes Strickland and Catharine Parr Strickland (later Traill). She wrote her first children's book in 1822. Susanna was involved in the Anti-Slavery Society in London. In 1831, she married John Moodie, a retired officer of the Napoleonic Wars. The next year, the couple and their daughter emigrated to Canada, following sister Catharine Traill and her husband. The family settled on a farm in Douro township, near Lakefield, north of Peterborough, Upper Canada, where her brother Samuel worked as a surveyor. Susanna Moodie continued to write in Canada and her letters and journals contain valuable information about life in the colony.
Members
Discussions
Victorian Era Abroad: Q1: Roughing it in the Bush by Susanna Moodie in Club Read 2023 (February 2023)
Reviews
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 15
- Also by
- 2
- Members
- 657
- Popularity
- #38,400
- Rating
- 3.5
- Reviews
- 10
- ISBNs
- 151
- Languages
- 1