Lady Merton, Colonist

A train crossing Canada gives Elizabeth Merton plenty to admire and her brother Philip plenty to complain about. Travelling in a private Canadian Pacific car, the widowed English visitor sees possibilities in the forests and lakes of Ontario, while Philip looks forward to dinner. Their father's investment in the railway connects their privileged holiday with the country's expanding transport network. Published in 1910, Mrs. Humphry Ward's novel follows British travellers through a Canadian landscape that Elizabeth greets with growing enthusiasm.

Personal tensions interrupt the scenery. Arthur Delaine, whose hopes of winning Elizabeth have met resistance, exchanges a guarded letter with Anderson about a private family matter. Pride, discretion and competing claims to Elizabeth's company complicate their relations. Descriptions of woodland, water and mountains sit beside conversations about social expectations and Canada's future. Readers can approach the book for its railway setting and its portrait of an English woman's excitement at a changing country.