Emma Dorothea Eliza Nevitte Southworth, who published many of her books under the name Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth, was one of the most popular fiction writers in the United States during the mid nineteenth century. Beginning in 1846, she published her novels regularly in newspapers and magazines. When these novels were later published as books, they often bore new titles, and sometimes one serial was published as two or three separate novels. Later editions, both authorized and unauthorized, were frequently retitled again, creating a tangle of interrelated books. Scholars are still attempting to compile a definitive bibliography of Southworth's works, which include at least sixty novels and eight collections of short stories.

Although she wrote almost exclusively for a popular audience, Southworth was respected by critics in her day. Her books were read on both sides of the Atlantic and enjoyed as much for their moral overtones...