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.

[1][2] 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.

She later recalled her childhood as a lonely one, with her happiest moments spent exploring Maryland's Tidewater region on horseback.

The bulk of her work appeared as a serial in Robert E. Bonner's New York Ledger, and in 1857 Southworth signed a contract to write exclusively for this publication.

[11] The exclusive contract Southworth signed with Bonner in 1856 and royalties from her published novels earned her about $10,000 a year, making her one of the country's best-paid writers.

[6] Like her friend Harriet Beecher Stowe, she was a supporter of social change and women's rights, but she was not nearly as active on these issues.

Her first novel, Retribution, a serial for the National Era, published in book form in 1849, was so well received that she gave up teaching and became a regular contributor to various periodicals, especially the New York Ledger.

She wrote over sixty; some of them were translated into German, French, Chinese, Icelandic and Spanish; in 1872 an edition of thirty-five volumes was published in Philadelphia.