Frances Tiernan (née, Fisher; pen name, Christian Reid; July 5, 1846 – March 24, 1920) was an American author who wrote more than 50 novels, most notably The Land of the Sky. Reared as a Roman Catholic, she grew up in the Southern United States.
In 1870, she published her first novel, Valerie Aylmer. In the following year, she published in Appletons' Journal a novel entitled Morton House, a story of Southern life. Even after publishing nearly 50 novels, she considered this her best work.
In 1887, she married James M. Tiernan, of Maryland. She accompanied him to Mexico where he had mining interests. There, she collected material for her novel, The Land of the Sun. She also wrote several short stories set in Mexico, notably The Pictures of Las Cruces, which appeared in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, and which was translated and published in L'Illustration of Paris. After her husband's death in 1898, Tiernan made her home in New York City before returning to the family home in Salisbury in which she was born. Though she never claimed to be a poet, some of her verses were published.
In 1909, Tiernan was awarded the Laetare Medal by the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. This medal is given annually to a lay member of the Catholic Church for distinguished services in literature, art, science, or philosophy. Tiernan was the first Southerner to be awarded the medal.
