California: An Intimate History

Literature & Fiction

Gertrude, Atherton

Classics

Telegraph Books

The Gorgeous Isle: A Romance : Scene: Nevis, B.W.I., 1842

Nabu Press

Bell in the Fog and Other Stories

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Gertrude Atherton was born in San Francisco in 1857, and died in 1948. She eloped at the age of nineteen, took up writing against her husband's wishes, and after his death became a protegee of Ambrose Bierce, whose influence can be seen here in those stories, The Dead and the Countess, Death and the Woman and The Striding Place, which have an overtly supernatural element. The Striding Place was rejected by one editor as 'far too gruesome', but was in Atherton's view 'the best short story I ever wrote'. Elsewhere, The Greatest Good of the Greatest Number, The Tragedy of a Snob, and A Monarch of a Small Survey the psychological takes precedence over the supernatural. And in The Bell in the Fog (reminiscent of The Turn of the Screw, and dedicated to Henry James) the supernatural and psychological combine to brilliant effect: an angelic child bears a striking resemblance to an old portrait. Is she a reincarnation of her ancestor? And will she turn out as unangelic in adulthood as that distant ancestor turned out before her?

The Bell in the Fog & Other Stories

Contemporary

Wordsworth Editions Ltd.

What happens when a quiet, reserved woman bound by strict social codes of decorum grows restless and decides she wants a new life? Sometimes, the result is more horrific than you can imagine. If you're in the mood for a classic psychological thriller, you'll love Gertrude Atherton's Mrs. Belfame.

Mrs. Balfame

The Californians

Renowned for her realistic, intricate portraits of human relationships, Gertrude Atherton's The Californians unfolds against the backdrop of the author's native state as it entered a period of rapid change and diversification. The novel incorporates the contrasting viewpoints of two young girls—both California residents, but still worlds apart—as they navigate the road to adulthood.

Californians

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Books by Gertrude, Atherton