The History of Emily Montague

On its first publication, the novel received positive reviews in the most notable journals, and was reprinted in several editions during Brooke's lifetime.^[3] The book was generally overlooked in the nineteenth century, in part because few copies were available.^[3] In 1921, an article by literary scholar Charles Blue, "Canada's First Novelist," made the case that the book was worth serious study, and since then it has been considered an important part of the canon of Canadian literature.^[3]

The History of Emily Montague is the first novel written in Canada, and the first novel featuring a Canadian setting.^[1] However, some contest its status as a Canadian novel because the author was English and only lived in Canada for five years, and the book was published in London.^[1] Moreover, because the novel pre-dates the Confederation of Canada as an independent country in 1867, some have argued that it (and all pre-1867 literature from the region), should be considered colonial literature, not Canadian literature.

• Media related to The History of Emily Montague at Wikimedia Commons
• Full text of The History of Emily Montague, available at A Celebration of Women Writers
• The History of Emily Montague at Open Library