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). She began to write stories to support herself and her children when her husband deserted her in 1844. Her first story, The Irish Refugee , was published in the Baltimore Saturday Visiter. Some of her earliest works appeared in The National Era, the newspaper that printed Uncle Tom’s Cabin.