Olive Harper

author

Olive Harper

1842–1915

A lively American journalist, poet, and novelist who moved easily between mystery, detective fiction, and early science-fiction fantasy. Her work reflects a busy literary life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with stories that often mix sensation, humor, and the supernatural.

2 Audiobooks

The shoemaker : A powerful picture of nature, adapted from Hal Reid's famous drama of the same name

The shoemaker : A powerful picture of nature, adapted from Hal Reid's famous drama of the same name

by Olive Harper, Hal Reid

The sociable ghost : Being the adventures of a reporter who was invited by the sociable ghost to a grand banquet, ball, and convention under the ground of old Trinity churchyard. A true tale of the things he saw and did not see while he was not there.

The sociable ghost : Being the adventures of a reporter who was invited by the sociable ghost to a grand banquet, ball, and convention under the ground of old Trinity churchyard. A true tale of the things he saw and did not see while he was not there.

by Olive Harper

About the author

Writing under the name Olive Harper, Ellen Burrell D'Apery was an American journalist, writer, and poet born in 1842. She published fiction across several popular genres of her time, including mystery, detective stories, and imaginative fantasy with science-fiction elements.

Her known novels include A Fair Californian (1889), The Show Girl: Or, the Cap of Fortune (1902), and The Sociable Ghost (1903). She also worked as a translator and was active in newspaper and magazine writing, which helps explain the energetic, accessible style associated with her work.

Harper died in 1915, but her writing still stands out for its range and curiosity. For modern listeners, she offers a window into a period when genre fiction was expanding quickly and women writers were helping shape popular storytelling in unexpected ways.