[1][2] She is best known for her collection of fiction based on the lives of female mill operatives, titled Lights and Shadows of Factory Life in New England.
The stories in it trace the lives of three different fictional women – Emma Hale, Helen Gould, and Kate Kimball—who come to work in the mills for different reasons.
[9] In addition to pieces in the Offering, she published in the Olive Branch, Godey's Lady's Book, and Peterson's Magazine.
In 1859, a New Hampshire newspaper referred to her being "favorably and widely known in the world of letters under the nom de plum of 'The Author of Susy L.'s Diary.
[11] In 1889, she was included on a list of "prominent American literary women;[12] however, her works are not widely read or well-known today.