author
Payne Erskine
1854–1924
Known for lively, turn-of-the-century fiction with strong-willed heroines, this American novelist wrote popular romantic adventures set against vivid American landscapes. Her books include The Mountain Girl and The Eye of Dread.
2 Audiobooks
The Mountain Girl
by Payne Erskine
The Eye of Dread
by Payne Erskine
About the author
Emma Payne Erskine (May 10, 1854 – March 4, 1924), who published as Payne Erskine, was an American writer born in Racine, Wisconsin. She wrote several novels around the turn of the 20th century and built a reputation as a popular author of romantic and adventurous fiction.
Her work is often noted for energetic plots and capable female leads. Among her better-known titles are The Mountain Girl and The Eye of Dread, and contemporary readers described her fiction as distinctly American in tone and setting.
Erskine is remembered today as one of the many widely read novelists of her era whose stories blended romance, drama, and a strong sense of place. Though not as famous now as she was in her own time, her books still offer a window into popular American fiction of the early 1900s.