The Story of Mary Maclane

From the beginning, MacLane's writing was characterized by a direct, fiery, highly individualistic style. At the age of 19 in 1901, MacLane wrote her first book, titled by its author I Await the Devil's Coming but changed by its publishers to The Story of Mary MacLane. It sold 100,000 copies in the first month and was powerfully influential on young women. Some critics have suggested that even by today's standards, MacLane's writing is raw, honest, unflinching, self-aware, sensual, and extreme. She wrote openly about egoism and her own self-love, about sexual attraction and love for other women, and even about her desire to marry the Devil. Artist Bio Author: Mary MacLane (1881-1929) was a controversial Canadian-born American writer whose frank memoirs helped usher in the confessional style of autobiographical writing. MacLane was known as the "Wild Woman of Butte".