Mary Anne Cruse
Mary Anne Cruse was an American writer born in Huntsville, Alabama, in 1825, who led an aristocratic lifestyle during her early years. In the 1850s, she gained recognition for her children's books and novels, particularly morality tales that combined domestic fiction with plantation themes, reflecting her cultural context. The onset of the American Civil War marked a turning point in her writing, as she ceased publishing but documented the turmoil in Huntsville caused by Union troops. Her 1867 novel, *Cameron Hall: A Story of the Civil War*, sought to portray the Southern woman's perspective on the war, emphasizing the hardships faced and critiquing the perception of women as casualties of conflict. After the war, she returned to children's literature, publishing *Auntie's Christmas Trees* in 1875. Cruse continued to write until 1888, creating three additional novels before her passing in 1910 at the age of eighty-five. Her works reflect the complexities of her time, offering insights into both the literary and social challenges of the 19th century.
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Subject Terms
Mary Anne Cruse
Writer
- Born: 1825
- Birthplace: Huntsville, Alabama
- Died: 1910
Biography
Mary Anne Cruse was born in Huntsville, Alabama, in 1825 and lived an aristocratic style of life for much of her early life. As a writer, Cruse originally published children’s books and novels, mainly morality tales and lessons, in the 1850’s. These works have been praised for blending the secular genres of domestic fiction and the plantation novel into theologically themed books.
When the American Civil War broke out, Cruse stopped writing but managed to record what she and many others saw as the pillaging of Huntsville by the occupying Union army. In her 1867 novel Cameron Hall: A Story of the Civil War, she aspired to recount the times she experienced from a fictitious Southern woman’s point of view as someone who had suffered through the Huntsville occupation during the war. The work served to condemn not only Union troops but also the whole historical notion of women as the spoils and loot of war.
After the war, Cruse switched back to children’s literature with her publication of Auntie’s Christmas Trees: The Child’s Gift-Book for the Christmas Holidays in 1875. Mary Anne Cruse last published in 1888, three novels later, but survived several years more before passing away in 1910 in her mid-eighties.