Atlantic Narratives: Modern Short Stories; Second Series

A pioneering nurse and settlement-house worker, she wrote with warmth and sharp observation about caring for children and refugees in wartime France. Her best-known book brings World War I close through personal letters shaped by service, stamina, and compassion.

A little-known early 20th-century fiction writer, she is remembered today for “The Debt,” a short story published by The Atlantic in 1915. Very little biographical information appears to survive online, which gives her work an added air of mystery.

A thoughtful American writer of novels, stories, and essays, she published work that still feels lively and curious today. Her books ranged from serious fiction to an early science-fiction mystery, showing a taste for both ideas and storytelling.

Mazo De la Roche

1879–1961

Best known for the wildly popular Jalna novels, this Canadian writer created one of the 20th century's most enduring family sagas. Her books brought country houses, tangled relationships, and generations of Whiteoak drama to readers around the world.

A popular American writer of stories for children and families, she brought warmth, humor, and everyday feeling to books like Rebecca Mary and The Very Small Person. Her fiction also appeared in major magazines of her time, helping her reach a wide early-20th-century readership.

A journalist and author from the early 20th century, remembered for writing The Master Builders. His work sits in the world of public affairs and big personalities, with a style shaped by the concerns of his time.

Rebecca Hooper Eastman

An early 20th-century American novelist and short story writer, she wrote lively, readable fiction that often centered on women, family life, and everyday social tensions. Her work also reached silent-era audiences when one of her novels was adapted for film.

William Addleman Ganoe

1881–1966

Best known for writing a widely used history of the U.S. Army, this soldier-scholar brought a professional officer’s eye to the long sweep of American military history. His work also ranged into biography and memoir, including a book on Douglas MacArthur.

A journalist and fiction writer active in the 1910s, she moved between social reporting and storytelling in a way that still feels vivid today.

An American journalist and nonfiction writer, he turned firsthand reporting into vivid books about hard work, travel, and modern industry. His best-known writing brings readers straight into places most people never saw for themselves, including the dangerous world of coal mining.

A little-known early 20th-century fiction writer, this author published stories in major American magazines including The Atlantic and Harper’s. The surviving record is sparse, but the work that remains suggests a sharp eye for social life and character.

An early 20th-century American writer whose work moved between fiction, journalism, and regional history, she published stories in The Atlantic and wrote about Sacramento’s past with a clear sense of place.

A little-known American fiction writer from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, she is remembered for stories and novels including The King of the Town and A coward and other stories. Her work still survives through library and public-domain collections, giving modern readers a glimpse of popular literary tastes of her era.

Edith Ronald Mirrielees

1878–1962

A pioneering Stanford teacher of creative writing, she helped shape generations of writers and is often remembered as an early mentor to John Steinbeck. Her long academic life bridged classroom teaching, literary criticism, and the rise of creative writing as a serious field of study.

Known for fiction rooted in the southern mountains, this early 20th-century American writer also reached a national audience through magazines and an O. Henry Award-winning story. Several of her novels were later adapted for film, showing how widely her work traveled beyond the page.

Edward Morlae

An American who served in the French Foreign Legion during World War I, he wrote from direct experience, giving his work an unusual immediacy. His best-known book offers a vivid, personal view of trench warfare, military routine, and the international mix of men in the Legion.

Meredith Nicholson

1866–1947

Best remembered for lively early-20th-century novels like The House of a Thousand Candles, this Indiana writer also stepped into public life as a diplomat and civic figure. His career connected popular fiction, state politics, and American cultural life in a way that still feels distinctive.

Kathleen Thompson Norris

1880–1966

A bestselling American novelist of the early 20th century, she wrote popular stories about family life, marriage, and social expectations. Her books reached a huge readership and helped make her one of the most widely read women writers of her era.

A magazine writer with a sharp eye for everyday life, she also had an unexpected sideline in early science fiction. Her work ranged from essays and short stories to novels published under a shared pseudonym.

Best known for early 20th-century fiction in The Atlantic, this writer published stories that moved between childhood, everyday life, and longer-form narrative. Her surviving bibliography is small but distinctive, with work still preserved in major digital libraries.

Elsie Singmaster

1879–1958

Known for warm, vividly observed stories about Pennsylvania German life, this prolific early 20th-century writer published novels, short stories, and children's books that reached a wide popular audience. Her work blends regional detail with an easy, human touch that still feels inviting today.

Charles Haskins Townsend

1859–1944

A pioneering American zoologist and naturalist, he helped shape public interest in marine life during his long career at the New York Aquarium. He was also known for scientific work on fishes, whales, and other ocean animals.

Known for sharp, humane stories and essays, this Chicago writer captured everyday life with wit and sympathy. She was also deeply involved in reform-minded circles, linking her literary work to the social world around Hull House.