Olive M. (Olive Mary) Briggs

Olive M. Briggs, listed in library and public-domain records as Olive M. (Olive Mary) Briggs, was born in 1873. Firm biographical details about her life appear to be scarce, but her work survives through reprints and digitized editions, especially her 1909 novel The Black Cross.

The record of her books points to an active stretch of publishing in the late 1900s and early 1910s. Titles attributed to her include The Love of Karpeles (1907), The Madonna's Necklace (1907), A d'Artagnan of To-Day (1908), The Black Cross (1909), The Fir and the Palm (1910), The Pound of Flesh (1912), The Bachelor Dinner (1912), and The Courting of Miss Parkina (1913). Together, they suggest a writer drawn to dramatic plots, adventure, and romance.

The Black Cross, the work most easily found today, helped keep Briggs in circulation through Project Gutenberg and later reprints. Set in St. Petersburg and built around music, danger, and secret political forces, it gives a good sense of the kind of page-turning fiction she wrote. No clearly verified portrait image was found from the sources checked.