WRITTEN BY HERSELF.
Oliphant’s first novel was published in 1849, when she was only twenty-one-years-old and it is a fictional autobiography narrated by the eponymous Margaret Maitland. Margaret is a spinster, who becomes guardian to her niece Grace Maitland and the novel follows the progress of Grace and her young friends, as seen through the eyes of the older woman. Margaret was partly based on Oliphant’s mother, while the theme of alcoholism was close to the author’s heart, as her brother Willie had also suffered from this affliction. A sequel, Lilliesleaf, was published in 1855.