Mary Johnston

Mary Johnston 1870-1936, American novelist, b. Buchanan, Va. Her books combine romance with history. She is chiefly remembered for To Have and to Hold (1900), a story of colonial Virginia, and its successor, Audrey (1902). Her other novels include two Civil War stories, The Long Roll (1911) and Cease Firing (1912); The Great Valley (1926); and Miss Delicia Allen (1932).

Johnston, Mary (1870–1936), Virginia author of 22 popular romances, the best known of which is To Have and To Hold (1900), telling of a young English noblewoman who leaves her country to avoid marriage with a man she hates, and weds an unbelievably heroic Virginian. Fifteen of her stories deal with various periods of Virginia history, and The Long Roll (1911) and its sequel, Cease Firing (1912), are romantic tales of the Civil War, constructed with minute attention to historical facts. Her books are idealistic, sometimes verging on the mystical, and are peopled by stilted or artificial figures, despite her ability to re‐create atmosphere.