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This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
316 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2007
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About the author
Frederick Niven
64 books1 followerFrederick John Niven was a Canadian novelist of Scottish heritage. A prolific author, he produced over thirty works of fiction, an autobiography, poetry, essays, and pieces of journalism.
Niven was born in Valparaiso, Chile, the youngest of three children. His father manufactured sewed muslin, while his mother was a Calvinist born in Calcutta. When he reached school age, he accompanied his mother to Scotland. He was educated at Hutcheson's Grammar School, Glasgow, where his heart trouble prevented him from swimming. First employed in his father's factory, he later worked as a librarian in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and also had employment in a jewelry shop. He attended the Glasgow School of Art during the evening for two years. On the advice of a doctor, in his late teens Niven moved to the drier climate of the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. He worked on a railroad near Savona and dug ditches in Vancouver. When he was twenty years old, he spent a summer tramping in southern British Columbia, later portrayed in Wild Honey. His return to Scotland was aboard a cattleboat from Montreal, a setting recreated in S. S. Glory (1915).
After his arrival, he contributed western sketches to the Glasgow Weekly Herald, and later, to The Pall Mall Magazine, eventually becoming a journalist. His first novel, Lost Cabin Mine (1908), was a Western published serially in The Popular Magazine. His second, The Island of Providence (1910), a historical romance of 17th century Devon, contained scenes replete with pirates and buccaneers. His first foray into realistically depicting Scottish life was A Wilderness of Monkeys (1911).
In 1911, Niven married Mary Pauline Thorne-Quelch, a journalist fifteen years his junior. In 1912 and 1913 the couple spent several months travelling in Western Canada prior to returning to London before WWI. Niven was rejected for military service due to his heart condition. He spent the war working for the Ministry of Food and the War Office. This period, the years 1913 to 1920, was most productive, and included the publication of Justice of the Peace (1914), which many, including his wife, consider to be his finest novel. His first volume of poetry, Maple Leaf Songs, appeared in 1917.
Niven was born in Valparaiso, Chile, the youngest of three children. His father manufactured sewed muslin, while his mother was a Calvinist born in Calcutta. When he reached school age, he accompanied his mother to Scotland. He was educated at Hutcheson's Grammar School, Glasgow, where his heart trouble prevented him from swimming. First employed in his father's factory, he later worked as a librarian in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and also had employment in a jewelry shop. He attended the Glasgow School of Art during the evening for two years. On the advice of a doctor, in his late teens Niven moved to the drier climate of the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. He worked on a railroad near Savona and dug ditches in Vancouver. When he was twenty years old, he spent a summer tramping in southern British Columbia, later portrayed in Wild Honey. His return to Scotland was aboard a cattleboat from Montreal, a setting recreated in S. S. Glory (1915).
After his arrival, he contributed western sketches to the Glasgow Weekly Herald, and later, to The Pall Mall Magazine, eventually becoming a journalist. His first novel, Lost Cabin Mine (1908), was a Western published serially in The Popular Magazine. His second, The Island of Providence (1910), a historical romance of 17th century Devon, contained scenes replete with pirates and buccaneers. His first foray into realistically depicting Scottish life was A Wilderness of Monkeys (1911).
In 1911, Niven married Mary Pauline Thorne-Quelch, a journalist fifteen years his junior. In 1912 and 1913 the couple spent several months travelling in Western Canada prior to returning to London before WWI. Niven was rejected for military service due to his heart condition. He spent the war working for the Ministry of Food and the War Office. This period, the years 1913 to 1920, was most productive, and included the publication of Justice of the Peace (1914), which many, including his wife, consider to be his finest novel. His first volume of poetry, Maple Leaf Songs, appeared in 1917.
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