Gertrude Atherton

About

An American fiction writer and essayist, she is particularly known for her 1923 best-selling novel, Black Oxen. She also published a popular book series on the social history of California.

Before Fame

She published her first short story, The Randolphs of Redwood: A Romance, in 1882.

Trivia

She is often compared to Henry James and Edith Wharton.

Family Life

She was raised in California and Kentucky by her maternal grandfather. She married George H.B. Atherton in 1876.

Associated With

She studied writing under Ambrose Bierce.