Margaret Oliphant - The Ways of Life: "It is often easier to justify one's self to others than to respond to the secret doubts"

The life of Margaret Oliphant Wilson was marked by both literary achievement and profound personal tragedy. After publishing her first novel in 1849, she faced numerous hardships, including the loss of three children in infancy and the death of her husband from tuberculosis. Left to support her family through writing, she experienced a prolific career while enduring the deaths of her remaining children. Despite her literary success, the weight of her losses deeply affected her, leading to a decline in health until her passing in 1897. She is buried alongside her sons in Eton.