The Diary of Delia (Paperback or Softback)

Delia is a confident young woman who works as a housekeeper for a small family. Every morning, she gets up before everyone else and makes breakfast for each family member, then starts on her cleaning tasks. Despite her close relationship with the family she works for, Delia feels that she has more potential and does not like working a housemaid. She feels disrespected by some members in the family, and wants to try to find another job. After meeting with her friend, Minnie, Delia decides that she will quit her job. She wakes up the next morning and refuses to make the breakfast as usual. Instead, she tells the family of her decision and asked for the wages she’s due. Even though the family protests, Delia gets her wages and goes off to live with Minnie. However, Delia soon learns that the world is not kind to working women, and she struggles to find a well-paying job. Poor and unsure what to do, Delia remains optimistic and fights to find the best place for her.

Set in the early 1900s, The Diary of Delia is an intimate account of life as a poor working woman. Featuring detailed descriptions of landscapes, customs and dialects, The Diary of Delia acts a valuable and entertaining historical source. With animate and memorable characters, Onoto Watanna creates a historical narrative that still feels fresh and compelling to a modern audience.

First published in 1907, Onoto Watanna’s The Diary of Delia is rarely found in print. This special edition features a stunning cover design and is printed in an easy-to-read font. With these accommodations, this edition of The Diary of Delia caters to contemporary readers by restoring the novel to modern standards while preserving the original intimacy of Onoto Watanna’s work.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Winnifred Eaton, (1875-1954) better known by her penname, Onoto Watanna was a Canadian author and screenwriter of Chinese-British ancestry. First published at the age of fourteen, Watanna worked a variety of jobs, each utilizing her talent for writing. She worked for newspapers while she wrote her novels, becoming known for her romantic fiction and short stories. Later, Watanna became involved in the world of theater and film. She wrote screenplays in New York, and founded the Little Theatre Movement, which aimed to produced artistic content independent of commercial standards. After her death in 1954, the Reeve Theater in Alberta, Canada was built in her honor.