What do you think?
Rate this book
The Silver Maple
The storm was over, the snow had ceased falling, and under its muffling mantle, white and spent with the day's struggle, lay the great swamp of the Oro. It seemed to hold in its motionless bosom the very spirit of silence and death. The delicately traced pattern of a rabbit or weasel track, and a narrow human pathway that wound tortuously into the sepulchral depths, were the only signs of life in all the white stillness. Away down the dim, cathedral-like aisles, that fainted into softest grey in the distance, the crackling of an overburdened twig rang startlingly clear in the awesome hush. The tall firs and pines swept the white earth with their snow-laden branches, the drooping limbs looking like throngs of cowled heads, bent to worship in the sacred stillness of a vast temple. For the forest was, indeed, a place in which to wonder and to pray, a place all white and holy, filled with the mystery and awe of death.
164 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1906
1 person is currently reading
4 people want to read
About the author
Mary MacGregor
60 books3 followersBorn as Mary Esther Miller MacGregor.
MacGregor was born in Rugby, Ontario in 1872. Her parents were John Miller, a schoolteacher, and Mary Brown Johnston. Both parents were of Scottish ancestry. She was the eldest of five children. She attended school in Edgar, Ontario, and the Orillia Collegiate Institute. She received her teacher's certificate from the Toronto Normal school in 1896. Beginning in 1899, she taught for seven years in Orillia.
She began writing in 1905. She contributed a column to Teacher's Monthly and then worked on the editorial staff of the Presbyterian Church's Sunday School Publications. In 1906 when she tried to publish her first novel she learned that her name, 'Esther Miller' was already in use by another author so she chose to write under the pen name "Marian Keith". In 1909, she married Donald MacGregor who was one of the founding members of the United Church of Canada.[1] During the time that they were married they moved several times to places in central Ontario to support her husband's ministerial career. She and her husband spent a fair amount of time in London, Ontario where she wrote seven of her novels. While in London, she formed a Sunday school for girls that was called the 'Marian Keith Club'.
In 1924, she wrote a book called A Gentleman Adventurer which she based on the life of a neighbour, Thompson Smith. Canadian literary scholars have cited this as her best work.[4] In many of her novels, MacGregor sought to portray her connection between religious thought and social conscience in order to improve life for the poor and uneducated. She also wrote about tensions produced between Scottish and Irish settlers and the effects of education and urbanization on rural society.
MacGregor authored more than a dozen novels and several biographies, including Courageous Women which she co-authored with Lucy Maud Montgomery and Mabel Burns McKinley. MacGregor was a friend of Montgomery who was also married to a minister. She has been grouped with Montgomery and Nellie McClung as contributors to the revival of Canadian writing by women
She and Donald retired to a farm on Georgian Bay but her husband was injured in a train accident and died in 1946. She spent the rest of her life living in Owen Sound, Ontario with her sister and died there in 1961.
Also wrote as Marian Keith
MacGregor was born in Rugby, Ontario in 1872. Her parents were John Miller, a schoolteacher, and Mary Brown Johnston. Both parents were of Scottish ancestry. She was the eldest of five children. She attended school in Edgar, Ontario, and the Orillia Collegiate Institute. She received her teacher's certificate from the Toronto Normal school in 1896. Beginning in 1899, she taught for seven years in Orillia.
She began writing in 1905. She contributed a column to Teacher's Monthly and then worked on the editorial staff of the Presbyterian Church's Sunday School Publications. In 1906 when she tried to publish her first novel she learned that her name, 'Esther Miller' was already in use by another author so she chose to write under the pen name "Marian Keith". In 1909, she married Donald MacGregor who was one of the founding members of the United Church of Canada.[1] During the time that they were married they moved several times to places in central Ontario to support her husband's ministerial career. She and her husband spent a fair amount of time in London, Ontario where she wrote seven of her novels. While in London, she formed a Sunday school for girls that was called the 'Marian Keith Club'.
In 1924, she wrote a book called A Gentleman Adventurer which she based on the life of a neighbour, Thompson Smith. Canadian literary scholars have cited this as her best work.[4] In many of her novels, MacGregor sought to portray her connection between religious thought and social conscience in order to improve life for the poor and uneducated. She also wrote about tensions produced between Scottish and Irish settlers and the effects of education and urbanization on rural society.
MacGregor authored more than a dozen novels and several biographies, including Courageous Women which she co-authored with Lucy Maud Montgomery and Mabel Burns McKinley. MacGregor was a friend of Montgomery who was also married to a minister. She has been grouped with Montgomery and Nellie McClung as contributors to the revival of Canadian writing by women
She and Donald retired to a farm on Georgian Bay but her husband was injured in a train accident and died in 1946. She spent the rest of her life living in Owen Sound, Ontario with her sister and died there in 1961.
Also wrote as Marian Keith
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 24, 2020
An early 20th-century Canadian tale of a central Ontario (Simcoe County) man coming to age during the second half of the 19th-century. Quaint, enjoyable, and nice to read a story concerned with the rural Canadian experience of the period. The themes of redemption, faith, and morality are wrapped up awfully handily, but this is a charming period piece for connoisseurs of Canadian literature.
I came to this story to better understand a man who was reading it in 1908, who was raised and lived in the region the book describes. It's hard to believe in that period that a rural Canadian could find a book set in the area and reflecting experiences he was intimately familiar with.
What most struck me from the 21st-century perspective was the rather surprising wartime adventure of the protagonist with the British Empire troops sent to rescue besieged Khartoum; this seemed so exotic and 'safe' compared to the mechanized destruction of the global 20th-century wars.
I came to this story to better understand a man who was reading it in 1908, who was raised and lived in the region the book describes. It's hard to believe in that period that a rural Canadian could find a book set in the area and reflecting experiences he was intimately familiar with.
What most struck me from the 21st-century perspective was the rather surprising wartime adventure of the protagonist with the British Empire troops sent to rescue besieged Khartoum; this seemed so exotic and 'safe' compared to the mechanized destruction of the global 20th-century wars.
April 18, 2012
This is definitely a timeless classic. Like her friend, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Marian Keith writes about early Canadian life and its simple beauty. The descriptive passages are outstanding and I feel like I'm standing with the main character overlooking Lake Oro or Lake Simcoe or his beloved silver maple tree, strong and true. Very Canadian indeed. Well done! This author needs to be re-instated; her books should be reprinted for all to enjoy. She makes rural Ontario sound as quaint and endearing as Montgomery did with Prince Edward Island. Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford, the award-winning author of "The Whistling Bishop".
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews