Margaret Deland

Margaret Deland (February 23, 1857 - January 13, 1945) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet. She also wrote an autobiography in two volumes. She is generally considered part of the literary realism movement.Deland is best known for the novel John Ward, Preacher (1888), an indictment of Calvinism, which became a best-seller. Her 'Old Chester' books, based on her early memories of the Pittsburgh communities where she grew up - including Maple Grove and Manchester - were also popular. In her lifetime she was called the American Thomas Humphry Ward and was compared to Elizabeth Gaskell.By 1941, Deland had published 33 books.