Mrs. Oliphant was a 19th century Scottish novelist, biographer and historian. She is best known for her depiction of small town life. After the death of her husband she began writing over 100 books as a means of supporting her children and those of her brother. A Little Pilgrim: Stories of the Seen and the Unseen Oliphant says, "The sympathetic reader will easily understand that the following pages were never meant to be connected with any author's name. They sprang out of those thoughts that arise in the heart, when the door of the Unseen has been suddenly opened close by us; and are little more than a wistful attempt to follow a gentle soul which never knew doubt into the New World, and to catch a glimpse of something of its glory through her simple and child-like eyes."