John Ward, Preacher

TitleJohn Ward, Preacher
Year of Publication1888
Publication TypeNovel
Number of Pages or Episodes473 p.
LanguageEnglish
AuthorsDeland, Margaret
PublisherHoughton, Mifflin and Company
CityBoston
KeywordsCalvinism; marriage; ministers; Protestants
Abstract

Portrays a newly married couple—a Presbyterian clergyman grounded in Calvinism and his Episcopalian wife—battling each other over orthodox dogma, particularly the doctrine of eternal damnation that the wife never accepts.

Notes

The novel triggered heated and prolonged public debate, making it an American bestseller.

Author Biography

Margaret Deland (1857-1945) was born Margaretta Wade Campbell to Allegheny City, Allegheny County clothing merchants. Her mother died after childbirth and her father died shortly thereafter, so Deland's mother's sister raised her in Manchester, then a borough in Allegheny County. Deland attended boarding school in New York and studied art at Cooper Union. She married Lorin Fuller Deland, Harvard's football coach. Maggie, as she was called, had a deep interest in women's issues and over the years she opened her home to over 60 unwed mothers and their babies. She was a friend to Willa Cather. For magazines, especially Harper's Weekly and The Atlantic Monthly, she published dozens of short stories, most based on her early years in Maple Grove and Manchester. She died in Boston.

Time

1880s