Hilda: A Story of Calcutta — Sara Jeannette Duncan

Sara Jeannette Duncan, later Cotes (1861-1922), was a Canadian author and journalist. She first worked as a schoolteacher before taking up journalism as a full-time occupation. Various freelancing work led to her taking her first position at the Washington Post in 1885. In 1886, she made history as the first woman to be hired as a professional journalist in Canada, taking a regular position at the Toronto Globe, now the Globe and Mail. She later moved to the Montreal Star, where she was the paper s Parliamentary correspondent. She published 22 books, including two volumes of personal sketches and a collection of short stories. Her first book, A Social Departure: How Orthodocia and I Went Around the World by Ourselves (1890) documented an around-the-world trip, but she is best known today for her 1904 novel The Imperialist. Amongst her other works are: A Daughter of Today (1894), The Story of Sonny Sahib (1894), A Voyage of Consolation (1898), The Path of a Star (1898), Hilda: A Story of Calcutta (1898), The Crow s Nest (1901), The Pool in the Desert (1903), Set in Authority (1906) and Cousin Cinderella: A Canadian Girl in London (1908).