Constance Beresford-Howe (10 November 1922 – 20 January 2016) was a Canadian novelist.

Biography

Constance Beresford-Howe was born in 1922 in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and graduated from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

with an BA and MA, and from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, where she completed a Ph.D. in 1950. She taught English literature and creative writing at McGill in Montreal and

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

until her retirement in 1988."Constance Beresford-Howe"
''Canadian Encyclopedia''. by Jean Wilson, April 2, 2008 Beresford-Howe published ten novels between 1946 and 1991. ''The Book of Eve'' (1973), her best-known novel, tells the story of a 65-year-old woman who leaves her demanding husband for the freedom to live the way she wants. The stage version, ''Eve'', by Larry Fineberg, premiered at the

Stratford Festival The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival ...

in 1976. Two of Beresford-Howe's novels, ''

A Population of One ''A Population of One'' is a Canadian television film, directed by Robert Sherrin and broadcast by CBC Television in 1980.Rick Groen, "Change in time warps plot of A Population of One". ''The Globe and Mail'', September 13, 1980. Based on the novel ...

'' and ''

The Marriage Bed ''The Marriage Bed'' is a Canadian television film, directed by Martin Lavut and broadcast by CBC Television in 1986. Adapted from the novel by Constance Beresford-Howe, the film stars Linda Griffiths as Annie Graham, a woman who is pregnant wit ...

'',Jim Bawden, "Settling down in Marriage Bed". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', December 21, 1986. were made into television films for

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

Bibliography

Novels

*''The Unreasoning Heart'' (1946) *''Of This Day's Journey'' (1947) *''The Invisible Gate'' (1949) *''Lady Greensleeves'' (1955) *''The Book of Eve'' (1973) *''A Population of One'' (1976) *''The Marriage Bed'' (1981) *''Night Studies'' (1985) *''Prospero's Daughter'' (1988) *''A Serious Widow'' (1991)

References

1922 births 2016 deaths Canadian women novelists 20th-century Canadian novelists McGill University alumni Brown University alumni Academic staff of Toronto Metropolitan University Academic staff of McGill University Writers from Montreal 20th-century Canadian women writers Canadian expatriates in the United States {{Canada-writer-stub