Novelist, born in Newmarket, Ontario, SE Canada. She wrote Jalna (1927), the first of a series of novels about the Whiteoak family. Whiteoaks (1929) was dramatized with considerable success. She also wrote children's stories and travel books.
Mazo de la Roche (January 15, 1879 – July 12, 1961), born Mazo Louise Roche in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, was the author of the Jalna novels, one of the most popular series of books of her time.
Biography
Early life
Mazo de la Roche was the only child of William Roche, a salesman, and Alberta (Lundy) Roche.
At the age of seven, her parents adopted de la Roche's orphaned younger cousin Caroline Clement, who joined in her fantasy world game and would become her lifelong companion.
Early writing
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 (1923) and Delight (1926), were romantic novels and earned her little in income or recognition.
Jalna series
Her books became best-sellers and she wrote 16 novels in the series known as the Jalna series or the Whiteoak Chronicles.
It is interesting to note the similarities and differences in the experiences of the Whiteoaks family and de la Roche's.
Death and legacy
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 is believed to be the inspiration for Jalna and is now maintained by the Ontario Museum Association.
In the 1970s, a land developer in London, Ontario used the characters from de la Roche's Jalna series to name streets for a new subdivision named White Oaks. Streetnames used from the Jalna series include: Jalna Boulevard, Ernest Avenue, Renny Crescent, Finch Crescent, Nicholas Crescent, Alayne Crescent, Archer Crescent, Piers Crescent, Meg Drive.
In 1990, a new French-immersion public school in de la Roche's birthplace of Newmarket, Ontario was named in her honour.
Responding to an enquiry on the pronunciation of her name, her secretary told The Literary Digest: "Her Christian name is pronounced may'zo, and Roche is pronounced rosh, to rime with Foch." Jalna series (in narrative order) Building of Jalna, Little, Brown, 1944 ISBN 0-316-17996-5 Morning at Jalna, Little, Brown, 1960 ISBN 0-333-03933-5 Mary Wakefield, Little, Brown, 1949 ISBN 0-333-07652-4 Young Renny, Little, Brown, 1935 ISBN 0-333-01371-9 Whiteoak Heritage, Little, Brown, 1940 ISBN 0-333-05090-8 Whiteoak Brothers, Little, Brown, 1953 ISBN 0-333-08809-3 Jalna, Little, Brown, 1927 ISBN 0-316-18000-9 Whiteoaks of Jalna, Little, Brown, 1929; published as Whiteoaks, Macmillan, 1929, ISBN 0-316-18014-9 Finch's Fortune, Little, Brown, 1932 ISBN 0-333-09966-4 The Master of Jalna, Little, Brown, 1933 ISBN 0-316-18002-5 Whiteoak Harvest, Little, Brown, 1936 ISBN 0-333-07404-1 Wakefield's Course, Little, Brown, 1941 ISBN 0-316-18010-6 Return to Jalna, Little, Brown, 1946 ISBN 0-333-04842-3 Renny's Daughter, Little, Brown, 1951 ISBN 0-333-08561-2 Variable Winds at Jalna, Little, Brown, 1954 ISBN 0-333-02280-7 Centenary at Jalna, Little, Brown, 1958 ISBN 0-316-17997-3 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 1-131-68067-7 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 1-199-86589-3 (With Nancy Price) Whiteoaks: A Play (adapted from Whiteoaks of Jalna; first produced in London, England, at Little Theatre in the Adelphi, April 13, 1936; ISBN 0-333-06247-7 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 0-8369-3186-6 The Two Saplings (novel), Macmillan, 1942. ISBN 1-121-26423-9 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. Ringing the Changes: An Autobiography, Little, Brown, 1957. ISBN 1-141-37942-2 Bill and Coo (juvenile), Macmillan, 1958, Little, Brown, 1959. ISBN 0-902498-73-9 Selected Stories of Mazo de la Roche, edited and introduced by Douglas Daymond, University of Ottawa Press, 1979. ISBN 2-7603-4340-5
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