The Splendid Idle Forties

Upon the remarks of friend Kate Field, on California writers' neglect of the picturesque and romantic old Spanish life of the state, Atherton explored the history and culture of Spanish California in Monterey, San Juan Bautista, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara. From these experiences came Before the Gringo Came (1894) later expanded into this current title of The Splendid Idle Forties.

First published at the turn of the century, ‘The Splendid, Idle Forties’ by feminist author Gertrude Atherton is a collection of short stories, all set in California. Romance and forbidden love are key themes throughout, and though each story stands alone, many refer to previous events and characters. Full of vivid descriptions, this is a wonderful collection of short stories from the Golden State, which inspires nostalgia for a bygone age. Gertrude Atherton (1857-1948) was an American novelist, short story writer and early feminist. Born in California, Gertrude attended schools in California and Kentucky and became widely read. She married George H.B. Atherton in 1876, and lived with him and his mother in San Francisco, where they had two children. Atherton struggled with married life, her husband did not support her writing ambitions and Gertrude found life as a wife and mother stifling. When her husband died at sea in 1887, Atherton felt free to pursue her burgeoning career as an author and went on to publish over 50 novels. She is best known for her California series of novels which explored the social history of California and included popular works such as ‘The Californians’ and the controversial ‘Black Oxen’ which was adapted into a silent movie in 1923. Feminist themes and strong female characters are common in her novels. She died in San Francisco in 1948.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

"The Splendid Idle Forties: Stories of Old California" by Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten-or yet undiscovered gems-of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton (October 30, 1857 - June 14, 1948) was an American author. Many of her novels are set in her home state of California. Her bestseller Black Oxen (1923) was made into a silent movie of the same name. In addition to novels, she wrote short stories, essays, and articles for magazines and newspapers on such issues as feminism, politics, and war. Atherton's first publication was "The Randolphs of Redwood: A Romance", serialized in The Argonaut in March 1882 under the pseudonym Asmodeus. When she revealed to her family that she was the author, it caused her to be ostracized. In 1888, she left for New York, leaving Muriel with her grandmother. She traveled to London, and eventually returned to California. Atherton's first novel, What Dreams May Come, was published in 1888 under the pseudonym Frank Lin.