A Woman, Awakening: Mary MacLane in Butte, America

Mary MacLane had a complex relationship with Butte, the city that both formed and frustrated her as a writer. Her first confessional memoir, originally titled “I Await the Devil’s Coming,” was published in 1902 and became an international bestseller. After a period on the East Coast, she returned to Butte and wrote a second memoir, “I, Mary MacLane,” that was published in 1917. Both her memoirs feature striking descriptions of Butte and illuminate MacLane’s feelings about the place and about herself.