American author Gertrude Atherton (1857-1948) wrote many novels and other works set in California, primarily in San Francisco. Many of her works consider themes related to the West, social ideas, and women.

Atherton was born Gertrude Horn on October 30, 1857, in San Francisco, California, the only child of Thomas L. Horn and Gertrude Franklin Horn. Her father was a businessman with a tobacco and cigar business from Connecticut, while her mother was a Southern belle who had been born in New Orleans. Atherton's mother married Thomas Horn mostly for his money.

The Horns had a tough marriage that ended in divorce when Atherton was two. Until the divorce, Atherton lived in relative wealth. After the divorce, her parents both remarried and she had one half-brother and two half-sisters. Immediately following her parents' divorce, Atherton lived on a ranch owned by her maternal grandfather, Stephen Franklin, in San Jose, California...