author
Pansy Alden
Known to readers as “Pansy,” Isabella Macdonald Alden was a hugely popular 19th-century author of faith-centered fiction for children and families. Her warm, practical stories—including Four Girls at Chautauqua and Ester Ried—helped make her one of the era’s best-known Christian writers.
1 Audiobook
Christie's Christmas
by Pansy Alden
About the author
Isabella Macdonald Alden (1841–1930) was an American author who wrote under the nickname and pen name “Pansy,” a name given to her by her father. She began writing young, publishing her first story in a village newspaper at age ten, and went on to write around 100 books between 1865 and 1929.
Alden’s fiction combined everyday life with clear Christian lessons. Her best-known works include Four Girls at Chautauqua, Ester Ried, Tip Lewis and His Lamp, The King’s Daughter, and The Chautauqua Girls at Home. She also edited the children’s magazine Pansy, contributed to Christian periodicals, and prepared Sunday-school lessons.
Her books were widely read in the late 19th century, with some translated into French, German, Russian, and Japanese. Alden was also the aunt of novelist Grace Livingston Hill, who later completed and edited Alden’s unfinished autobiography.