"Madonna Mary" by Mrs. Oliphant Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant was a Scottish novelist and historical writer who usually wrote as Mrs. Oliphant. This example of domestic realism delves deeper into the dramatic. When the witnesses of a woman's wedding pass away before her marriage is thoroughly processed, she's unable to prove her nuptials are, in fact, legal. What ensues is strife and turmoil that only Oliphant would be able to write so eloquently.