History of Maud

The author was born in Mankato on April 25, 1892, to Thomas and Stella (Palmer) Hart. Even in childhood she was a storyteller and writer. When she was 10, her father had her poems printed in a booklet. While in her teens, Maud Hart sent stories to magazines and sold her first story at age 18.

After graduating from Mankato High School in 1910, Maud Hart attended the University of Minnesota. Following a short period of study abroad, she married writer Delos Wheeler Lovelace in 1917. The couple co-authored several books.

When their daughter Merian was young, Maud Hart Lovelace began telling Merian stories about her own childhood in Mankato. Lovelace decided to write one book about her childhood experiences, calling herself Betsy, and her friends Tacy and Tib. Betsy-Tacy books resulted. In Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown, Lovelace described her delight at the opening of the Carnegie Library. Mankato librarian Maud Van Buren appeared as Miss Sparrow in several of the Betsy-Tacy books.

Lovelace recounted more activities in turn-of-the-century “Deep Valley” in three additional books. Marguerite Marsh, a Mankato assistant librarian in the early 1900s is the main character in the novel Emily of Deep Valley.

Maud Hart Lovelace wrote 24 books, of which six are historical novels for adults. Most of her books are set in Minnesota. The author died March 11, 1980, in Claremont, California. She is buried at Glenwood Cemetery in Mankato.

Books by Maud

Most books are now in print and available through the Betsy-Tacy Society and your local bookstores.

Betsy-Tacy Series

• Betsy-Tacy, 1940
• Betsy-Tacy and Tib, 1941
• Betsy and Tacy go Over the Big Hill, 1942
• Betsy and Tacy go Downtown, 1943
• Heaven to Betsy, 1945
• Betsy in Spite of Herself, 1946
• Betsy was a Junior, 1947
• Betsy and Joe, 1948
• Betsy and the Great World, 1952
• Betsy’s Wedding, 1955

Children’s Books by Lovelace

• The Golden Wedge, 1942
• Carney’s House Party, 1949
• Emily of Deep Valley, 1950
• The Tune is in the Tree, 1950
• The Trees Kneel at Christmas, 1951
• Winona’s Pony Cart, 1953
• What Cabrillo Found, 1958
• The Valentine Box, 1966

Books About Lovelace

• "Maud Hart Lovelace's Deep Valley" by Julie A. Schrader
• "Discover Deep Valley" by Julie A. Schrader
• "Betsy-Tacy Companion: a biography of Maud Hart Lovelace" by Sharla Scannell Whalen
• "Maud Hart Lovelace" by Ken E. Berg
• "Between Deep Valley and the great world: Maud Hart Lovelace in Minneapolis" by Amy Dolnick