Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth

Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth (December 26, 1819 – June 30, 1899) was an American writer of more than 60 novels in the latter part of the 19th century. She was the most popular American novelist of her day.

In her novels, her heroines often challenge modern perceptions of Victorian feminine domesticity by showing virtue as naturally allied to wit, adventure, and rebellion to remedy any unfortunate situation. Though The Hidden Hand (1859) was her most popular novel, Southworth's favorite of her works was her novel Ishmael (1876).

Early life and education

E. D. E. N. Southworth was born Emma Nevitte on December 26, 1819, in Washington, D.C., to Susannah Wailes and Charles LeCompte Nevitte, a Virginia merchant. Her father died in 1824, and per his deathbed request she was christened Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte. She studied in a school kept by her stepfather, Joshua L. Henshaw. She later recalled her childhood as a lonely one, with her happiest moments spent exploring the Tidewater region in Maryland on horseback. During those rides, she acquired an abiding interest in the area's history and folklore. After attending her stepfather's school, she completed her secondary education in 1835 at the age of 15.

Career

She then accepted a position as a schoolteacher. In 1840, she married inventor Frederick H. Southworth, of Utica, New York. She moved with her husband to Wisconsin, where she became a teacher. After 1843, she returned to Washington, D.C. without her husband and with two young children. After the birth of their second child, Frederick abandoned his family in search of Brazilian gold. Southworth never divorced her husband on conscientious grounds.