No Ordinary Woman: The Story of Mary Schäffer Warren

Susannah D. Ketchum, a former teacher-librarian at the Bishop Strachan
School in Toronto, serves on the Southern Ontario Library Services
Board.

“I hate doing the ordinary thing,” begins Janice Beck’s earnest
and exhaustive biography of Mary Schдffer Warren, 1861–1939. Far from
“doing the ordinary thing,” Warren was an “artist, photographer,
writer, world traveler and, above all, [an] explorer” in an age when
few women of her class left the comfort and safety of the drawing room.
Dr. Charles Schдffer, Warren’s first husband, was an amateur student
of natural history and took Mary on a number of scientific excursions,
especially to the Canadian Rockies. After his death, Mary continued to
travel and to explore, recording her experiences in photographs,
letters, and magazine articles.

The book is illustrated with maps and wonderful photographs (some in
color, many spectacular), and includes a selection of Warren’s
previously unpublished manuscripts. The writings vary considerably in
tone and quality, and this section might have been more interesting had
Beck included some background information about each selection. Indeed,
Beck has left a number of tantalizing questions unanswered. In the
biographical section, she quotes frequently from letters that Warren
wrote to Humphrey Toms but never explains who Toms is or why Warren
wrote to him so often.

Beck’s research appears to be thorough. She lists an extensive
bibliography of writings by and about Warren and refers to two plays and
a novel based on Warren’s life. Clearly fascinated by her subject,
Beck nevertheless appears uneasily aware of Warren’s shortcomings.
“Some of her views changed over time; others were resolute. Most were
complex and even apparently contradictory. All provide invaluable
insight into her character.” Unfortunately, Beck’s narrative talents
are not equal to the task of bringing her subject to life. Rather, the
contradictions in Mary’s character loom larger than her
accomplishments.