Hardcover, NEAR FINE, maroon boards, gild titles, 373 pp.30. Atherton (1857 - 1948) American feminist and writer of social and historical fiction, much of it set in California. Although her reputation is founded primarily on her California fiction and essays, as well her biography of Alexander Hamilton, Atherton also produced a number of (post-)Gothic stories, some of them, such as "The Bell in the Fog," significant achievements in the Gothic/supernaturalist tradition.