Mazo de la Roche was the only child of William Roche, a salesman, and Alberta (Lundy) Roche. She was a lonely child and the family moved frequently during her childhood due to the ill health of her mother and her father's many jobs. She became an avid reader and developed her own fictional world that she called "The Play" in which she created imaginary scenes and characters.
At the age of seven, her parents Adopt ed de la Roche's Orphan ed younger Cousin Caroline Clement, who joined in her fantasy world game and would become her lifelong companion. She wrote her first Short Story at the age of nine.
One of the family's moves meant some years on a farm owned by a wealthy man who farmed as a hobby. There de la Roche began to develop her fantasy world of Rural Aristocracy that would become Jalna..
De la Roche had her first story published in 1902 in '' Munsey's Magazine '' but did not begin her writing career in earnest until after the death of her father. Her first two novels, ''Possession'' in 1923 and ''Delight'' in 1926 , were Romantic Novel s and earned her little in income or recognition.
Her third novel, Jalna, was submitted to the American magazine '' Atlantic Monthly '', which was offering a $10 000 award for the best novel. Its victory and subsequent publication in 1927 brought de la Roche fame and fortune at the age of 48.
Her books became best-sellers and she wrote 16 novels in the series known as the ''Jalna series'' or the ''Whiteoak chronicles''. The series tells the story of one hundred years of the Whiteoak family covering from 1854 to 1954. The novels were not written in sequential order, however, and each can be read as an independent story.
It is interesting to note the similarities and differences in the experiences of the Whiteoaks family and de la Roche's. While the lives and successes of the Whiteoaks rise and fall, there remained for them the steadiness of the family manor, known as Jalna. De la Roche's family endured the illness of her mother, the perpetual job searches of her father, and the adoption of her orphaned cousin while being moved 17 times. Her family did work a farm for a few years for a wealthy man who owned the farm for a hobby. Several critics believe that Finch from ''Finch's Fortune'' is a reflection of de la Roche herself. The names of many of the characters were taken from gravestones in a Newmarket, Ontario cemetery.
The Jalna series has sold more than eleven million copies in 193 English and 92 foreign editions. In 1935 , the film Jalna, based on the novel, was released by RKO Radio Pictures and, in 1972 , a CBC television series was produced based on the series.
Mazo de la Roche is buried near the grave of Stephen Leacock at St. George's Anglican Church , at Sibbald Point , near Sutton, Ontario .
The Benares Historic House of Clarkson, Ontario (now, a suburb of Mississauga ) is believed to be the inspiration for Jalna and is now maintained by the Ontario Museum Association . A nearby park is named ''Whiteoaks'' in honour of the series.
A French-immersion public school in de la Roche's birthtown of Newmarket, Ontario was named in her honour when it opened in 1990.
- ''Explorers of the Dawn'' (collection of previously published sketches), Knopf , 1922.
- ''Possession'' (novel), Macmillan Publishers , 1923, reprinted, C. Chivers, 1973.
- ''Low Life: A Comedy in One Act'' (play; first produced as ''Low Life'' in Toronto, Ontario, at Trinity Memorial Hall, May 14 , 1925 ), Macmillan, 1925.
- ''Delight'' (novel), Macmillan, 1926, reprinted with introduction by Desmond Pacey , McClelland And Stewart , 1961.
- ''Come True'' (play; first produced in Toronto at Trinity Memorial Hall, May 16 , 1927 ), Macmillan, 1927.
- Jalna series (in narrative order)
- --- ''Building of Jalna'', Little, Brown , 1944 ISBN 0316179965
- --- ''Morning at Jalna'', Little, Brown, 1960 ISBN 0333039335
- --- ''Mary Wakefield'', Little, Brown, 1949 ISBN 0333076524
- --- ''Young Renny'', Little, Brown, 1935 ISBN 0333013719
- --- ''Whiteoak Heritage'', Little, Brown, 1940 ISBN 0333050908
- --- ''Whiteoak Brothers'', Little, Brown, 1953 ISBN 0333088093
- --- ''Jalna'', Little, Brown, 1927 ISBN 0316180009
- --- '' Whiteoaks Of Jalna '', Little, Brown, 1929; published as ''Whiteoaks'', Macmillan, 1929, ISBN 0316180149
- --- ''Finch's Fortune'', Little, Brown, 1932 ISBN 0333099664
- --- ''The Master of Jalna'', Little, Brown, 1933 ISBN 0316180025
- --- ''Whiteoak Harvest'', Little, Brown, 1936 ISBN 0333074041
- --- ''Wakefield's Course'', Little, Brown, 1941 ISBN 0316180106
- --- ''Return to Jalna'', Little, Brown, 1946 ISBN 0333048423
- --- ''Renny's Daughter'', Little, Brown, 1951 ISBN 0333085612
- --- ''Variable Winds at Jalna'', Little, Brown, 1954 ISBN 0333022807
- --- ''Centenary at Jalna'', Little, Brown, 1958 ISBN 0316179973
- ''The Return of the Emigrant'' (play), first produced in Toronto at Trinity Memorial Hall, March 12 , 1928 .
- ''Low Life and Other Plays'' (contains ''Low Life'', ''Come True'', and ''The Return of the Emigrant''), Little, Brown, 1929. ISBN 1131680677
- ''Portrait of a Dog'' (novel), Little, Brown, 1930.
- ''Lark Ascending'' (novel), Little, Brown, 1932.
- ''The Thunder of the New Wings'', Little, Brown, 1932.
- ''Beside a Norman Tower'', Little, Brown, 1934. ISBN 1199865893
- (With , England , at Little Theatre in The Adelphi , April 13 , 1936 ; produced on Broadway , 1938), Macmillan, 1936. ISBN 0333062477
- ''The Very Little House'' (novel), Little, Brown, 1937.
- ''Growth of a Man'' (novel), Little, Brown, 1938.
- ''The Sacred Bullock and Other Stories of Animals'', Little, Brown, 1939, reprinted, Books For Libraries Press , 1969. ISBN 0836931866
- ''The Two Saplings'' (novel), Macmillan, 1942.
- ''Quebec: Historic Seaport'' ( Non-fiction ), Doubleday , 1944. ISBN 1121264239
- ''Mistress of Jalna'', first produced in Bromley , Kent , England , at New Theatre , November 12 , 1951 .
- ''A Boy in the House, and Other Stories'', Little, Brown, 1952.
- ''The Song of Lambert'' ( Juvenile ), Macmillan, 1955, Little Brown, 1956.
- '''', Little, Brown, 1957. ISBN 1141379422
- ''Bill and Coo'' (juvenile), Macmillan, 1958, Little, Brown, 1959.
- (Author of introduction) George F. Nelson, editor, ''Northern Lights: A New Collection of Distinguished Writing by Canadian Authors'', Doubleday, 1960. ISBN 0902498739
- ''Selected Stories of Mazo de la Roche'', edited and introduced by Douglas Daymond, University Of Ottawa Press , 1979. ISBN 2760343405
- ''Jalna'' 1935 film based on the novel. IMDb
- ''The Whiteoaks of Jalna'' 1972 CBC TV series based on the Jalna series. IMDb
- Petri Liukkonen (2003). Mazo de la Roche . Retrieved June 23, 2005.
- Virginia Careless Mazo De La Roche: Mistress of Jalna 1879-1961 . Retrieved June 23, 2005.
- Mazo de la Roche Public School (2004). History - Mazo de la Roche (1879-1961) . Retrieved June 23, 2005.
- The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition (2004). de la Roche, Mazo . Retrieved June 23, 2005.
- Matt & Andrej Koymasky (2004). Mazo de la Roche . Retrieved June 23, 2005.
- Ontario Museum Association (2005). Benares Historic House . Retrieved June 23, 2005.
- James H. Marsh, ed. (1990). ''The Junior Encyclopedia of Canada''. Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers Ltd.. ISBN 0-88830-334-3.
- Ellie Friedman & Joyce Y. Carter (1995). The Jalna Series; or, The Whiteoak Chronicles by Mazo de la Roche . Retrieved June 26, 2005.
- "Biography - de la Roche, Mazo (1879-1961)" (2004). '' Contemporary Authors ''. Thomson Gale.
Lorne Pierce Medal
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